YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY Gift of
Charles H. B. Chapin

This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in
cooperation with Yale University Library, 2008. You
may not reproduce this digitized copy of the book for
any purpose other than for scholarship, research,
educational, or, in limited quantity, personal use. You
may not distribute or provide access to this digitized copy
(or modified or partial versions of it) for commercial purposes.

THE

PURITANS AND QUEEN ELIZABETH

THE

PURITANS AND QUEEN ELIZABETH:

OE,

THE CHURCH, COURT, AND PARLIAMENT
OF ENGLAND,

FROM THIS IlETGN OF EDWARD VI. TO TEE
DEATH OF THE QUEEN.

BY
SAMUEL HOPKINS.
WITH AN INTEODUCTOEY NOTE BY MAEI HOPKINS, D.D.

IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. ILL

NEW YORK:
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO.,
770 Bboadway, Corner Cfru Street.

Copyright, 1875.
By SAMUEL HOPKINS.

Mrirv'53 H7?2

University Press : "Welch, Eigelow, & Co.,
Cambridge.

PREFATORY NO TOE.

In the course of tho following pages I have cited several
authorities not mentioned in tho catalogue prefixed to my
first volume. "When I have first had occasion to notice any
one of these, I have — without exception, I think — iden
tified tho edition in a note.
I have occasionally referred to " Waddington's Papers "
and to " Waddington's MS." By the former I designate
certain papers with which I was furnished by the politeness
of Rev. Dr. Waddington, Pastor of the Pilgrim Church
in Southwark, England, while on his late mission to this
country. One of these papers — a letter written in April
1593 — I consider of great value ; and I think I have shown
it to be such.
By " Waddington's MS." I designate a work, yet unpub
lished, written by the same gentleman, and entitled " Tlie
Hidden Church." This manuscript is in the hands of
" The Congregational Board of Publication," and has been
generously lent to me by their Publishing Committee, who
havo allowed mo to use it at discretion. I have rarely
quoted from it, but have often referred to it. In either
case, I could not, of course, specify the pages which I cite,
as I certainly should havo done, were it already published.
Some of " Waddington's Papers " are contained in his man-

VI PREFATORY NOTE.
uscript volume. But as I was previously furnished with
them by Dr. Waddington himself, I havo used them inde
pendently of the favor of " The Publishing Committee."
" The Hidden Church " is a history of the early struggles
of ecclesiastical Independency, from its development under
the reign of Queen Mary to its establishment on the shores
of New England. It is a work of much interest, and tho
delay of its publication is to bo regretted.
In prosecuting the task which I now conclude, I have
found it necessary to procure from England a few volumes
— rare and of old date — which were essential to my pur
pose. A few others have been furnished to me from the
Ubraries of private gentlemen. With these exceptions, \
have depended upon generous and protracted loans — most
freely granted — from the libraries of Harvard College,
the Boston Athenamm, Brown University, the Univer
sity of Vermont, Amherst College, Yale College, and the
Berkeley Divinity School in Middlctown, Connecticut.
The unfailing courtesy which I have received from theso
sources during the five years of my labor, I most gratefully
acknowledge.
s. a
Northampton (Mass.), April, 18C1.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. (A. D. 1585, 1586.)
Tub Progress op Puritanism. — Archbishop Whitgift's Apprehen
sions. — His Care of Robert Beal, Clerk op the Privy Council.
— His Decree against the Freedom op the Press. — The Case op
EusEnius Paget, arraigned for his Opinions. — The Argument in
his Case. — The Case op Thomas Carew. — The Action op the
Privy Council in his Behalf. — Bishop Aylmer resents it. — The
Contempt of the Bishops for Law and for Humanity, in the Case
op John Gardiner. — The Case of Thomas Settle. — The Fables
about the Attempts of Lord Burleicii and Secretary Walsing-
iiam at Reconciliation  15
CHAPTER II.
TRAVERS AND HOOKER. (A. D. 1581-15SG.)
Richard Hooker's Arrival at London. — He is inveigled to Mar
riage. — His sad Condition.— Walter Thavers recommended to
the Mastership of the Temple. — Archbishop Whitgift protests
against it. — Travers refuses Episcopal Ordination. — Hooker
appointed to the Mastership. — He refuses to await the Suf
frages of the Templars. — The Pulpit Controversy of Travers
and Hooker. — Their different Styles of Preaching. — Travers
publicly ordered by the archbishop to cease preaching  tne
Archbishop's Reasons. — Travers appeals to the Privy Council.
— His Argument for the Validity of his Presbyterian Ordina
tion. — His Friends in the Council baffled. — The Objection to
his Ordination a Pretence. — Hooker wearies op his Unpopu
larity AND RESIGNS THE MASTERSHIP  39
CHAPTER III.
BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. (A. D. 158G.)
WALSiNcnAM's extensive EsnoNAGE. — Factions amoxo TnE Roman
ists. — Plot of Savage, Hougeson, and Gifford. — " Father Per-
sons's Green Coat," or "Leicester's Commonwealth." — The
Priest Ballard and Maud the Spy. — Henry HI., upon Complaint
op Elizabeth, commits Thomas Morgan to the Bastile. — The
Priest Poley and Morgan in Paeis. — Polky in the Family op

Vlll CONTENTS.
Sir Philip Sidney. — Walsixgtiam's Inspection of Letters in Ci
pher. — His subtle Connection with the Agents of the Queen
of Scots. — Her foreign Correspondence. — Walsixgiiam's Plah
to secure it. — The Conspiracy in Paris. — Anthony Babington.
— His romantic Enthusiasm for the Queen of Scots. — He is
drawn into the Conspiracy. — He modifies the Plan of Pro
cedure, AND SECURES NEW ASSOCIATES. — QUEEN MARY'S CORRESPOND
ENCE with Babington. — Plot and Counterplot. — The Conspir
acy REVEALED TO QUEEN ELIZABETH. — B.VLLARD ARRESTED. — THE
Conspirators alarmed, but quieted by Walsingiiam. — The Con
spiracy REVEALED TO THE PRIVY COUNCIL. — TlIE FLIGHT OF THE
Conspirators. — The Alarm of the People. — The Hue and Cp.t.
— The Arrests. — The entiiuslistic Joy of the People. — It is
acknowledged by the queen. — glfford's flight and fate. 
Walsingiiam charged with Forgery of Letters. — His Course
JUSTIFIABLE. — TlIE TRIAL OFTHE CONSPIRATORS. — CllIDIOCIC TlTCH-
boubne ix Prison. — The Executions  73

CHAPTER IV.
THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7.
Commissioners appointed for TnE Trial of TnE Queen op Scots. —
Their Sentence. — Elizabeth recommits the Case to Parliament.
— The Lord Chancellor's Petition ix Behalf of the Lords, fob
the Execution of Mary. — The Speaker's Petition in Behalf of
the Commons. — Elizabeth's Reply. — Her special Message, that
the Parliament might devise other Means for the Safety op
the Realm. — They reply, that they " cax find no other Way";
¦xd iterate their Petition. — Her "Answer answerless." — Par
liament adjourn. — -Public Rejoicings for the Proceedings against
Mary. — The Sincerity of Elizabeth considered. — The Honesty
of the Parliament, particularly of the Puritan Members, con
sidered. — Hostile Plans of Spain are discovered. — A special
Embassy from France. — The Ambassador Ordixary schemes fob
the Murder of Elizabeth. — His Plot discovered. — Alarjiinq
Rumors. — Elizabeth's Perplexity. — She orders a Warrant foe
Mary's Execution to be drawn. — It is sicxed and despatched
wrrnouT the Queen's Knowledge. — Her Anger. — Her Behavior
UPON HEARING OF MARY'S DEATH. — THE PRESBYTERIAN PLATFORM. 
Parliament reassemble. — A Bill offered in the Commons foe
a new Book of Disctflixe axd of Common Prayer. — The Queen
demands it. — tlie blll axd book read, upon a motion of peteb
Wentworth. — A Speech against them. — Wextworth takes his
Stand for the Liberties of the House. — Hi? Articles, or Ques
tion's, thereupon. — He is sent to the Tow^r ; and others also.
— A Motion, and a Committee of Conference, for their Release.
— The Queen petitioned " in Behalf of the new Model " of Dis
cipline. — Her Answer. — The Bill of the Puritans considered —
Ties Attempt of Marguerite Lambrux to assassinate Queex Eliz
abeth  121

CONTENTS. LX
CHAPTER V.
ANNUS MIRABILIS. (A. D. 1588.)
Martial Preparations in England. — The SrANisn Armada. — Its
Plan of Operations. — Auxillvry Forces expected from France,
the Netherlands, and Heaven. — Motives and Purposes of Phild?
of Spain. — Anxiety on the Continent. — The Spanish Fleet en
ters the English Channel. — The First Skirmish. — The Naval
Force of England. — The Lord Admiral Effixgham gives Chase
and Fight. — The Spaniards anchor at Calais. — Are dispersed
by Fire-ships, and attacked in Detail. — The Spanlvrds hold a
Council of War, and resolve upon a Retreat through the
Northern Seas. — Their Sufferings and Disasters. — Only sixty
Sail succeed in reaching Spain. — The Mourning of the People.
— The Exglisii Camp at Tilbury. — The Queen's Speech there. —
The Loyalty of the English Catholics. — God the Victor. —
Thanksgiving of the English. — The last Days op the Earl op
Leicester. — His pious Epistles  183
CHAPTER VI.
THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. (A. D. 1587-1589.)
John Penry's Arrival at Northampton. — His " Supplication to the
Parliament." — His Examination axd Imprisonment. — An Old
Man's Argument against the Celebacy of T'ie Clergy. — Irs Wel
come and Success.— Prophetic Dbeams. — A Christian Maiden's
Love. — Penry's early History. — Fawsley Manor. — The Prel
ates annoyed by Puritan Books. — Robert Waldegrave and ins
secret Press. — His Persecutions. — The Seizure and Destruction
or ms Press. — Another Tress established. — Previous Troubles
of Mr. John Wigcinton. — The Commotion excited by the Issues
op the new Press. — A domiciliary Visit by Night. — Mr. Wiggin-
ton again arrested.  hls examination. — committed to prison.
— Migrations and Operations of the Press. — Penry suspected,
and his Study sacked. — His Indignation, and ms " Appellation
to Parliament." — Order for his Arrest. — His Retreat to Scot-
laxd. — The English Guillotixe  231
CHAPTER VII.
MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. (A. D. 1688, 1589.)
Srxorsis op TnE Martin Tracts, — Wn y sought for where unheard
of. — The Sensation which they produced in England. — Procla
mation AGAINST THEM. — SEIZURE OF THE PRESS. — ARREST OF ITS
Employees and Patrons. — Their Arraicnment and Sentence. —
Remarks on Martin's Writings. — Misrepresentations of them.
— Their Authorship and Sponsors considered. — The Puritans
VOL. III. 2

E CONTENTS.
DISAVOWED THEM. — DISAVOWAL OF TlIROGMORTON, C.VRTWRICTIT, PEN
BT, L'DAL — TlIE PROMINENT PURITAN Cl.ERGY DENOUNCED MARTIN
UPON HIS FIRST Ari'EAlLAXCE — THE WRITER TO THIS DAY UNKNOWN. 273

CHAPTER VIII.
THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9.
The Nation restored to Quiet. — The Opening of PirL'.nrEXT 
AN EXTRAORDINARY SlTPLY GRANTED BY THE COMMONS. — ABUSES OP
Purveyance and in the Court of Exchequer. — Pn^s acainst
them. — A Committee to justify the Bills to her M/jesty and
to urge her Allowance of them. — Her Reply. — Conferences
lton these Abuses between the Lords and the Comxons. — Mo
tion against Grievances in the Church. — Retained and returned
by the Speaker.. — Bill against Pluralities. — Debate upon it is
the House of Lords. — Parllimext dissolved  Remarks uros
their. Proceedings  809
CHAPTER IX.
THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. (A. D. 1588-9.)
tne first suxday at s.uxt paul's cross after the orextxg op
Parliament. — Dr. Bancroft the Preacher. — For his Theme sub
stitutes Puritanism for Christ and Him crucified. — He com
plains that the Puritans are borne with, while they sustain
the Interests of The People. — Laity should yield their Judg
ment to the Clergy. — The Puritans "base, rascally', DEViLisn,
and Axtichristiax." — The Divine Right of Bishops, such as in
the English Church. — The commox Doctrine on this Subject
sixty Years befop.e. — Popular Indignation at Bancroft's Doc-
trixe. — Remonstrance of Sir Francis Knollys. — His ArrEAL to
Dr. Raixolds. — The Answer of Dr. Rainolds. — Bancroft's Theory
uiscabded by the Council axd Bishops  329

CHAPTER X.
CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEAV DISCIPLINE. (A. D. 1585-1589.)
The RnEMisn Traxslation of the New Testament. — Thomas Cart
wright solicited to coxfute it. — His Return to England. — His
Arrest, Imprisonment, axd Release. — Interview between Cart-
wriciit and AVhitgift. — Cartwright preferred to the Hospital
at Warwick. — Summoned to answer Charges. — Dismissed with
out Censure. — Forbidden to pursue his Confutation of the
Rhemish Testament. — Persists ix it at Intervals. — His Cox-
section with the Puritan " Book of Discipline." — TnE Subscrip
tion to that Book. — Subscribers to it; many of them Conform
ists. — The Nature and Doings of the Presbyterian "Assemblies." 348

CONTENTS* XI
CHAPTER XI.
"FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." (A. D. 1590-1592.)
Mb. Wight imprisoned. — His Papers reveal the Doings op TnE
Puritan Assemblies. — Other Clergymen imprisoned. — Revela
tions BY SOME OF THEM UPON OATH. — ARTICLES OBJECTED AGAINST
Mr. Cartwright. — He solicits the good Offices of Lord Bur
leigh. — Before the Commissioners refuses the Oath. — Upon his
second Appearance consents, on certain Conditions, to make
Oath upon certain Charges. — Lord Burleigh remonstrates. —
Cartwright axd others now held in Prison for refusing the
Oath. — Their Cases referred to the Star-Chamber. — Arraicned
there, but the Proceedings suspended. — Cartwright brought
before the Commissioners secretly. — Upbraided axd insulted.
— Charges made by the Attorney-General. — Mr. Cartwright
again refuses the oath. — dispute between blsiiop aylmer and
Dr. Bancroft. — Mr. Cartwright remanded to Prison. — AA'ritten
Articles preferred against him and others in the Star-Cham
ber. — Their written Answers upon Oath. — Prosecution fails
for Want of Proof. — The Commissioners still hold them in
Prison. — Mr. Cartwricht solicits the Intercession of Lady Rub
ber with Lord Burleigh. — The Prisoners address the Queen. —
Some Favor showed, except to Mr Cartwright. — The Arch
bishop's Conditions of Release rejected. — Public Sympathy for
the Prisoners. — Intercessions of King James, of Sib Francis
Knollys, and op Doctors at Cambridge, unavailing. . . . 870

CHAPTER XII.
PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. (A. D. 1590-1592.)
Bobert Cawdrey arraigned, deprived, and deposed. — Lord Bur-
leicii advises his Appeal to Law. — Mr. Cawdrey commences
a Suit to test, by Municipal Law, the Practice of Ecclesiasti
cal Courts. — The Verdict of the Jury upon the Facts. — They
refer to the court whether his deprivation was, or was kot,
warranted by law. — tlie argument upon this point fob tub
Plaintiff. — The rebutting Argument of the Court. — A Review
of this Argument. — The Indignation op Lord Burleigh and op
the People. — John Udal arraigned before the Assizes at Croy-
den. — His Indictment. — His previous Troubles. — His Trial. —
The Verdict, Guilty of Felony. — The Court urge him to Sub
mission. — His Plea for Staving of Sentence. — Is sentenced to
Death. — Order for his Respite. — His Conference with a Mes
senger from the Queen. — Sir Walter Raleigh interferes in his
Behalf. — Another Overture. — Mr Udal signs an Acknowledg- '
ment. — The Archbishop unwilling for his Pardon. — The Lon
don Merchants seek his Liberation; rut in vain. — Hib Suffer
ings and Death in Prison. — Considerations upon his Case. . 402

Xll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIII.
HENRY BARROAV. {A. D. 1580-1588.)
A London Rake. — His Reformation. — The Tenets of TnE Indepen
dents.— Their Differences and Affinities with the Puritans
proter. — The Independents without Organization and without
a Leader. — Their Condition ix Society, axd their Character
istics. — Henry Barrow their Master-Spirit. — Master Fox's Or
dinary in Nicholas Lane — Conference there between Mr.
Barrow and Mr. Hull about the Imprisonment of John Green
wood. — They visit Greenwood in the Clink. — Barrow detained
there a Prisoner. — Taken before the Archbishop and other
Commissioners. — He is committed to the Gatehouse. — His second
Interview with the Commissioners. — Before a special Commis
sion, in Company with Greenwood. — Their Objection's to Ju
dicial Oaths. — Their ingenuous Boldness. — They are enlarged.
- Again arrested. — Mr. Barrow's Examination  445
CHAPTER XIV.
THE INDEPENDENTS. (A. D. 1588-1593.)
The Bisnors TnEiR own Enemies. — Increase of the Independents.
— Their secret Assemblies. — A Church organized in London. —
Midnight Arrest of Greenwood and Johnson. — Fifty-six Persons
arrested at Islington — Other Arrests. — Privations of Prison
Life. — Prisoners detained without Trial. — Their Complaint. —
TnE Jail-Fever. — Flogging with Cudgels. — The Torture op
"Little Ease." — Death in Prison. — Chains and Dungeons. —
Many die ; some thrust forth to die. — AA*no were responsible
for these Horrors, and how far. — The Facts concealed from
the Queen. — The Inquisition of England and the Inquisition of
Spaix compabed  471
CHAPTER XV.
EXECUTIONS. (A. D. 1592-3.)
Christian Convicts led out of Prison fob Execution. — Reprieved.
— Books published by Barrow and Greenwood while in Prison.
— They and their Assistants indicted for the same, convicted,
and sentenced to immediate execution. — a conference with
Barrow and Greenwood " for their Souls' Health " and fob
their Recantation. — The Sentence of their Associates com
muted. — Barrow axd Greenwood taken to the Gallows. — Their
Addresses to the Peotle. — A second Reprieve. — Rejoicings of
the People. — Taken again to Tyburn and executed. — The
secret History of their Reprieves and Execution. — John Penky
and his Family at Stepney. — His Arrest there. — His History

CONTENTS. Xiii
while in Scotland. — His private Notes op what ne heard
there. — His Papers seized. — Himself imprisoned. — His Letters
to his Wife and Children. — His Examination. — His Memorial
to the Government. — His Declaration against Prosecution for
his Books. — Is indicted, convicted, and sentenced to Death fob
private Whitings. — His Execution. — Elizabethan Juries. — Pen
ry's Steadfastness. — His Farewell Letters to the Church, to
his Wife, to his Children. — The Relation op the Queen to
these Executions ; and op the Bishops  603

CHAPTER XVI.
THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3.
Deatti op the Lord Chancellor Hatton. — The Geeat Seal com
mitted to Sir John Puckering as "Lord Keeper." — Meeting op
Parliament. — Opening Speech op the Lord Keeper. — His Reply
to the Petitions of the Speaker. — Peter Wentworth. — He and
others imprisoned — James Morrice ; his Treatise against the
High Court of Commission. — Introduces the same Subject to
the Consideration of the Commons. — Debate lton it. — The
Queen's Message- concerning it. — Morrice committed to Prison.
— Motion to petition for Release of imprisoned Members. — Bill
for reducing disloyal Subjects to their due Obedience. — De
bate upon it! — Passed with Amendments. — An Abstract of the
Bill. — A Bill against Popish Recusants. — The Queen's Speecii
at the Close of Parliament. — Mr. Cartwright released from
Prison. — No more Separatists executed. — The Queen orders
their Deliverance from Prison. — New Imprisonments. — Banish
ment AND VOLUNTARY EXILE. — INDECENT VIOLENCE OP CHIEF JUS
TICE Anderson. — The Lull of Religious Persecution. — Puritan
ism TURNS AGGRESSIVE.  6)8

CHAPTER XVII.
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. — WILLIAM, LORD BURLEIGH.
(AD. 1559-1599.)
Opinions op Cbanmeb, Covebdale, Bullingeb, Calvin, and Queen
Elizabeth respecting- the Christian Sabbath. — The Queen's
Example. — The Habits of the People on Sundays. — The Catas
trophe at South wark. — Its moral Effect uroN the People. —
Action in Parliament for the better Observance of the Sab
bath Day. — The Effobts op Smith and of Gbeenham fob the
same Object. — De. Bound's Book upon the Sabbath. — The new
Doctrine generally received by the People. — Opposition of the
Prelates. — Lord Burleigh's bodily Infirmities. — His last Sick
ness, Death, and Character.  684

xiv CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601.
The discontented Humor of the Commons at Tnr.iR Assembltno. —
Aggravated by their Exclusion from the urrER House at the
Opening of the Parliament. — A new Offence. — The Speaker's
Petitions and the Lord Keeper's Answer. — Irreverence of the
Commons towards the Queen. — The true Reason for their Ex
clusion. — Monopolies, the Reason of their Increase. — Extor
tions under them. — A Bill introduced against them. — Debate
upon it. — It is committed. — A new Discussion-. — The Subject
postpoxed.  a new blll introduced. — another debate. — tlie
Subject recommitted. — Bold Proposal in Committee. — The
House again excited. — Their bold and novel Course. — Message
from the Queen. — Cecil's exultant Comments upon it. — Rejoic
ing of the House. — They tender their Thanks to the Queen in
a Body. — Her Majesty's Reply. — Bills for the Suppressing op
Immoralities. — Bills concerning the Sabbath. — Ax Attempt to
stifle Freedom of Speech stifled  600

CHAPTER XIX.
PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION.
False Statements respecting the Principles and Behavior op the
Puritans. — Their Doincs in Parliament. — Their Progress to
wards Civil Liberty  6*7

INDEX  659

THE PURITANS.

CHAPTEE I.

THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES.
The Progress of Puritanism. — ARcnBisnor AViiitcift's Apprehensions.
— His Care of Robert Beal, Clerk of the Privy Council. — His
Decree against the Freedom of the Press. — The Case of Eusebius
Paget, arraigned for his Opinions. — The Argument in his Case. —
The Case of Thomas Carew. — The Action of the Privy Council in
his Behalf. — Bishop Aylmer resents it. — The Contempt of the Bish
ops for Law and for Humanity, in the Case of John Gardiner. —
The Case of Thomas Settle. — The Fables about the Attempts op
Lord Burleigh and Secretary Walsingiiam at Reconciliation.

1585, 1586.
The administration under which the Puritans had
been so severely educated was not that of Episco
pacy. No form of ecclesiasticism ever wrought, of
itself, by such measures, ever so defeated its own
aims, or ever so effectually aud rapidly moulded
the manhood of a nation into another form than
its own. Pure ecclesiasticism — in distinction from
pure religion — has no such power. Had the Eng
lish Church been framed after any other model, the
struggle and the result would have been the same.
There was no inherent vice in Presbyterianism.
There was none in Episcopacy. But in the cove
nant between Church and State, there was. With
only here and there an exception, this bond had
been the canker-vice of Christendom for eleven

16 THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. [Cn. L
centuries or more. Taking to herself an arm of
flesh, contrary to the spirit and to the letter of
her Charter, the Church had marred her own visage
and tainted her own blood. The legitimate power
of princes, too, by the same alliance had been
spoiled. Within the sphere of spirituals, for which
it had no fitness, and lording it over conscience,
for which it had no sufficiency, it had degenerated
to a ruthless tyranny, and thus had begun to un
dermine its own foundations.
To arrest the deplorable degeneracy of each, to dis
solve their incestuous union, to restore both Church
and State to their proper provinces and works,
God chose as his instruments a people pre-eminent
among the nations for true and vigorous manhood;
a people, therefore, peculiarly fitted to his work.
Neither in Germany nor in Switzerland had eccle
siastical and religious reform been adapted to re
sults so large, so grand, so vital to all the interests
of men, as were inwrapped in the movement to
which his providence led the sturdy minds of Eng
lishmen. Nowhere else had the first step been
taken tending towards the severance of ecclesiastical
and civil jurisdiction. Nor was this grand result, as
yet, within the purpose of the English Presbyte
rians. They were indeed cherishing its germ; but
its development was in tho distant future, so far as
they were concerned. It was planned by God, but
not by themselves. We have traced only their
initial steps.
Originally, they who wished for reform in the
Reformed Church of England had no conception of
the work in which they were engaged. In their

Ch. I.J THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 17
own minds, contending only against the old idolar
try fostered by a genuflection, an airy cross, a linen
stole, Hooper and Knox, Fox and Coverdale, had
unwittingly struck at the ecclesiastical supremacy of
the Crown, and planted the mattock where founda
tions were to be laid for another and a better struc
ture. Their disciples, goaded by the magistracy
whose domination they had aroused, wrought as
God's workmen to undermine and to build, not yet
understanding the character and magnitude of their
work. Like the carriers of wood and mortar, of
brick and stone, each one bore his burden hither
or yon, and made his contribution to a great plan
which only the architect himself had yet conceived.
The plaints and remonstrances of the laborers had
but increased the demands of the masters ; until a
conflict of opinions sprung up, and the ecclesiastical
pressure of the State had forced to the birth, and
had fostered, principles which might otherwise have
remained in embryo. To her astonishment, Des
potism found that her own vassals, under her own
orders, were rearing a citadel adverse to her own ;
and the oppressed, to their astonishment, had now a
dim perception of that civil franchisement to which
they Avere tending, and which might be the fruit
of their irksome education.
Notwithstanding the hearty and even chivalrous
loyalty which was the glory of Elizabeth's reign,
her will, enforced by all the machinery of her eccle.
siastical establishment and by all the servility of
her civil courts, was impotent against the progres
sive energy of that religious and political liberty
which her OAvn coercion had evoked. The Puritans
vol.. m. 3

18 THE TEMPER OF THE TRELATES. [Ch. L
had been pushed from point to point until they
had oome, as we have shoAvn, to plant themselves
upon the broad platform of the English constitu
tion, and to cla;in their rights boldly as English
freemen. In this position we shall henceforth find
them. But Puritanism had not only taken higher ground,
proclaimed indefeasible doctrine, and appealed to law
for protection from law, but it had made rapid pro
gress through the land. So early as 1573, it had
acquired such strength in the diocese of London —
the headquarters of loyalty — that Bishop Sandys
had confessed to an utter inability on the part of
himself and his brethren to withstand it. Nor were
his antagonists the Puritan clergy only ; for he dis
tinctly avowed that, "in the eyes of the basest sort
of the people," the prelates had " become contempti
ble, their estimation little, their authority less."1
We have also seen how, in the year 1581, in the
single county of Suffolk, Puritanism had made such
progress — not among " the basest sort of people "
only, but among the gentry and the magistrates —
that prelatic authority was baffled and almost neu
tralized.2 But the increase of Puritanism, both in its relig
ious and in its political forms, its increase among
the electors throughout the realm, is most distinctly
indicated by the spirit of the popular branch of
the Parliament. In the year 1575, the Commons,
though respectful, had been distinctly restive under
the arbitrary pretensions of the Crown ; and " for
five years afterwards the queen did not convoke
1 Ante, Vol. I 455. 2 Ante, Vol. H. 282, 283, 291.

Cn. I.] THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 1 9
Parliament, of which her dislike to their Puritani
cal temper might in all probability be the chief
reason";1 and after the session ofthe year 1580-1,
it was dissolved. Yet the new Parliament of 1584-5
had, in its House of Commons, a more resolute,
manly, and daring Puritan representation than any
previous one; not excepting that of the year 1566.
Of this, we think our sketch of its proceedings is
sufficient proof. But this is not all. While the
character of this House indicates fairly the grow
ing prevalence and intensity of "the Puritanical
temper," the same fact is avowed — inadvertently,
we think — in the answer of the bishops to the
eleventh article of the Petition for reformation in
the Church. We say so, because in that answer
it is distinctly stated that the people — gentry as
well as "the basest sort" must have been included,
to make the point good — had become so infused
with the Puritan element that they would not
complain of their ministers, " although they clean
alter the order of service and administration of the
sacraments." From this admitted fact, the prelates
emphatically argued the necessity of enforcing the
oath ex officio mero, as the only means, in most cases,
of detecting nonconformity.2
As it was no part of Archbishop Whitgift's policy
to concede anything to those who struggled for
ecclesiastical reform, so it was no part of his policy
to mingle forbearance with a mild exercise of au
thority in his dealings with those who swerved
'Hallam, 127. Ante, Vol. II. * Ante, Vol. H. 472, 478.
179.

20 THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. ICh. I.
from the prescript forms of the Church, or who
contravened his discipline. This he had distinctly
avowed in a letter to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh,—
"a mild kind of proceeding with them doth them
rather harm than good." x The late action of the
House of Commons had roused his apprehensions;
for the ecclesiastical courts had been attacked, and
the bishops, particularly, had been charged with
violating the common laAv of England. In such bold
and public proceedings he saAv the rising of that
tide of manly thought which he had impotently
striven to suppress. Unless he had a larger meas
ure of meekness than we can credit him with, he
was not only roused, but irritated by such attacks;
and the more, because conscious of their justness.
Under this excitement, and true to his contempt
of lenity, he summoned anew the power of the
Church, not only for discipline, but for retaliation.
It has been generously said that " Whitgift, though
severe, was not vindictive." 2 Possibly ; yet his first
action after the dispersion of the last Parliament
has at least a vindictive aspect.
His controversy with Eobert Beal, Clerk of the
Privy Council, will be remembered.3 It had been
personal, sharp. The Puritan had been bold, un
sparing, perhaps disrespectful. The Primate had
been stung, and out of temper. Mr. Beal had
afterwards taken his seat in the House of Com
mons, had served on the committee to arrange the
Petition for ecclesiastical reform,4 and had distin
guished himself by discussing, in the House, and in
1 Strype's Whitgift, 155. 3 Ante, Vol. TI. Chap. XV.
* Marsden, 169. * D'Ewes, 340.

UH. I.J THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 21
face of her Majesty's express command, matters
of ecclesiastical jurisdiction.1 For this freedom of
speech he had been "committed"; whether at the
Archbishop's instigation or not we can only con
jecture. But immediately after the prorogation of
Parliament, "some of the busy men in it against
the Church's present constitution, and the further
ance of those bills, w ere .taken notice of";2 and his
Grace made a special and vigorous attempt to
crush his personal adversary. " The Archbishop
thought it a convenient time to lay against him "
certain grave charges, and " drew up his schedule
thereof " in the form of an accusation, -- that so
dangerous a zealot might be called to account."8
It has been supposed, and not without reason,
that this accusation was laid before the Privy Coun
cil, for the purpose of bringing Mr. Beal to trial in
the Star-Chamber.4 The charges were, that he had
spoken in Parliament contrary to her Majesty's com
mand ; that he had written and published books
against the hierarchy and the queen's power in
spirituals, against oaths ministered in the courts
ecclesiastical, against the right of the Court of the
High Commission to imprison, to fine, and to en
force the oath of inquisition ; and — what deserves
special notice — that "he condemned (without ex
ception of any cause) racking of grievous offenders
as being cruel, barbarous, contrary to law and the
liberty of English subjects."6
We cannot but ask, Who was in advance of his
1 Strype's Whitgift, 212. * Neal, I. 166.
' Ibid., 211. " Strype's Whitgift, 212.
• Ibid.

22 THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 'Ch :
age, who was nearer to the light of mercy, justice,
human rights, and Christianity, the mitred Church
man or the intrepid Puritan ? Who manifested the
greatest moral courage, the prelate who feared all
investigation of moral and civil questions or the
Puritan who denounced the tyrannous usages of the
day, and threw himself into collision with the royal
prerogative of such a queen ?
We have no further trace of this transaction. But
the Clerk retained his position and the confidence of
his queen. The incident, trifling in itself, has no
little historical interest, because the Archbishop's
failure to chastise this writer of " seditious books,"
so called, shows that the Council were in advance of
the prelate on the scale of liberal principles and on
that of humanity. It indicates that they were less
willing to punish free speech in Parliament, had less '
reverence for the unlawful, oppressive proceedings
of the ecclesiastical courts, and less liking for ques
tioning by the rack. It confirms what we have
already said, that Whitgift was below the level of
his age.1
But the books of the " dangerous zealot," Beal,
had suggested to his Grace another mode of proceed
ing. In his opinion, it was at the peril of the
Church established " that so many disaffected books
were daily published and dispersed against its relig
ious worship and episcopal jurisdiction. They were
scurrilous libels," — so every book was esteemed
which did not square with every ordinance eccle
siastical, — " whereby many men became prejudiced
against conformity, and their minds blown up with
1 Ante, Vol. H. 440.

Ch. I.] THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 23
discontents and doubts about the usages and pres
ent practices of the Church. It was necessary to
have a strict watch there," lest the episcopal struc
ture should be battered down or undermined by
the Press. To effect this, he wrought directly with
the queen, — for again "her Majesty must be his ref
uge." He applied himself adroitly to her sensitive
jealousy touching her ecclesiastical supremacy, in
forming her both of the prevalence and of the dan
gerous tendency of these public discussions. When
she reminded him that sundry decrees and ordi
nances had already been made for repressing such
abuses of the Press, his Grace replied, that, "notwith
standing these decrees, yet such abuses were noth
ing abate?!, but did rather more and more increase ;
as did also, and as a consequence, sundry intolerable
troubles, as well in the Church as in the civil gov
ernment of the State ; that this increase of evils was
because the pains and penalties set down in the said
ordinances and decrees were too light and small for
the correction of so grievous and heinous offences."
Her Majesty was roused, and, "of her most godly
and gracious disposition," gave •-- special order " to
" the Archbishop and the Lords of her Privy Coun
cil to see that speedy and due reformation be had
of the abuses and disorders aforesaid." A decree
was therefore " framed by the Archbishop's hand,"
which Avas "confirmed and set forth. on the twenty-
third day of June, 1585, by the authority of the Star-
Chamber." By this decree it was ordained : —
-- That no presses should be set up or used besides
those in London, except one in the University at

24 THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. [Ch. I
Cambridge, and one in the Universitj* at Oxford :
That every printer should within ten daj-s render
an inventory of his implements ; upon pain to the
delinquent of having the same utterly demolished,
and of being imprisoned twelve months : That no
press should be set up in any obscure place ; upon
pain to the offender of imprisonment for one year,
and also of being disabled forever from using his
trade, except as a journeyman for wages : That no new
presses should be set up, and that none set up within
the six months last past should be used, until their
excessive number should have been so reduced as
might seem good to the Archbishop of Canterbury
and the Bishop of London ; upon pain to the of
fender of the destruction of his implemenfs, and of
imprisonment for a year : That no one should print
any book against the meaning of any law of the
realm or injunction of her Majesty, nor should any
one print any book at all unless the same be first
read1 by the Archbishop of Canterbury or by the
Bishop of London ; under pain to the printer in
either case of being disabled from any practice of
printing and of being imprisoned six months : That
sellers or binders of any such books should be impris
oned three months : And that the wardens of the
Company of Stationers might search for all such
books ivherever they should have reasonable cause of
suspicion, and destroy all presses and other instru
ments set up or used contrary to the meaning of
this decree." Other articles were added, limiting the
number of apprentices for each class of printers.2
1 " And approved " is not ex- ! Strype's AVhitgift, 222, 223.
pressed, but intended. Appendix, No. XXIV.

\ja. a.j TflK TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 25
This decree, "framed by the Archbishop's head,"
shows clearly how much he trembled for the eccle-
siastical constitution and courts. He had reason to
tremble (and, politically, he was right) ; for despot
ism cannot withstand the shocks of an unfettered
press. He had reason to tremble (and, politically,
was wise) ; for the Establishment had no hold upon
the affection and esteem of the great body of the
people. We have stated facts enough to show —
though we have more in reserve — that it was sus
tained only by awe of the Crown and by the arbi
trary severities of the prelates. We say, " their ar
bitrary severities" ; for if" in the ecclesiastical courts
they had such infinite exceptions to witnesses," that
even in civil cases there adjudicated -- it was at the
will of the judge, who was not sivorn to do justice,
with which party he should give sentence,"1 how
much justice was to be expected under a charge of
delinquency or of misdemeanor purely ecclesiastical,
when the judge himself, directly or indirectly, was
a party in the case ? We shall be able to throw
some light upon this question before long.
The court of High Commission had not been idle,
nor had they abated their unlawful measures, since
their last proceedings, of which we have taken note.
We have been sparing of our record of individual
cases which they prosecuted, or there would have
been no end to our task ; for it has not been our
aim to shoAV the wide extent of misery and wrong
inflicted upon men good and peaceable, but to pro
duce specimens only sufficient to shoAV the various
ways in which the Commissioners set at defiance
1 Coke. Part XIII. p. 44.
VOL. III. 4

26 THE TEMPER OF TnE PRELATES. [Ch. I
alike the common law of humanity and the com
mon law of the realm. With this object in view.
we shall now* and hereafter detail a few of the most
flagrant and memorable prosecutions.
About the close of the year 1583, a certain curate
in the county of Cormvall presented a complaint be
fore the Court of High Commission against Eusebius
Paget, the rector of Kilhampton, of whom slight
mention has been made before.1 Mr. Paget, like
many other most loyal Puritans, in his prayers for
the queen had spoken of her only as sovereign of
the realm, not as governess of the Church. In his
preaching, he had said at different times : " That he
disliked the use of organs in Divine worship : That
ministers who did not preach were dumb dogs : 2
and that those Avho had tAvo benefices were knaves,"
— meaning, if indeed he used the word " knaves,"
that such incumbents defrauded the Church of
Christ by preventing a sufficient supply of the
preached word and of pastoral care. He had also ut
tered some other sentiments which the curate had
reported as heretical. But these charges, intend
ed to impeach both the loyalty and the orthodoxy
1 Ante, Vol. II. 266. the approach of enemies, they, be-
* This phrase, often in the mouths ing dumb or unpreaching, did not
of the Puritans, requires a word of answer the very purpose of their
explanation. It was not used by office, and so were unfit for it. The
them in the way of scurrilous re- phrase, in this its application, was
proach or contempt for the men to peculiarly significant ; and was de-
whom it was applied ; but with rived frcm a respectable source, —
grief, seriously, and only to indicate the book of the prophet Isaiah,
(what was a deplorable truth) that, chapter lv., verse 10, " His watch-
while they were stationed within men are blind, they are all ignorant,
the walls of Zion, like watch-dogs they are all dumb dogs, they cannot
around a citadel, to give alarm upon bark."

va. l.j TMli TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 27
of Mr. Paget, were not proceeded upon by the
Commissioners. They only took occasion thereby
to arraign him, in January, 1583-4 upon the general
charge of -- refusing to observe the Book of Com
mon Prayer and the ecclesiastical rites and cere
monies." It was true that he had not used aU the rites and
ceremonies set forth in the book ; yet he had used
no others, and had in nearly all particulars followed
the book itself. But, before his induction, both his
patron and his ordinary, respecting his scruples and
esteeming his learning and his popular talents, had
expressly and of their own accord stipulated that if
he would but accept the cure, he should not be
urged to the precise observation of the book. On
the ground of this voluntary stipulation, and in all
honesty conceiving it to be a sufficient and a legal
dispensation for the few omissions in the prescript
service to which his conscience urged him, he had
consented to his spiritual charge. These things he
pleaded in defence ; and added a written request
that " he might have the liberty " — warranted, in
such cases, by ecclesiastical law and usage — " of
some reasonable length of time and of a favorable
conference with his ordinary, or with some others by
the Commissioners appointed." This answer seems
to have had some weight ; for, instead of setting it
aside and proceeding to sentence for nonconformity,
the Court immediately ordered Mr. Paget to sub
scribe to the " Three Articles." For refusing to do this,
he was immediately suspended from exercising the
ministry. ' Meekly obeying the sentence, he officiat
ed no more until the Archbishop himself -- released

28 THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. [Cn. i.
him " from it. He then resumed the functions ot
the ministry. For this, and for omitting part of the
public prayers, the sign of the cross in baptism, and
the surplice, the Commissioners deprived him of his
living. Against these proceedings it was argued at length
before the Court, and by learned civilians, " That the
suspension, even had it been for nonconformity, was
contrary to all ecclesiastical law;1 because in cases
like this, where the delinquent was such through con
scientious doubts, he was entitled to the benefit of
reasonable time and of conference for the purpose
of having his doubts resolved, which had not been
granted to Mr. Paget, although he had requested
it ;2 and because, by the same law, the delinquent
should have had three several canonical admoni
tions before sentence of suspension, — whereas in
this case not even one had been given. But" —
the civilians further argued — " the suspension was
not for nonconformity, but for refusing to subscribe
articles which the Court had no warrant to offer, for
their authority reaches no further than to reform
and correct facts done contrary to certain statutes
specified in their commission,3 and contrary to other
1 I would add, and consequent- statute in doubtful matters warrant-
ly contrary to the statute 1 Eliz., eth." I do not know of any statute
Cap. I. Sec. VIII., from which the provision to that effect, unless by
Commissioners originally derived implication in the statutes referred
their authority ; and also contrary to in the preceding note. I have
to 1 Eliz., Cap. II. Sec. XL, which therefore understood " the warrant "
requires ecclesiastical officers to to have been based on ecclesiastical
proceed "in like form as heretofore law. The words "doubtful mat-
hath been used in like cases by the ters " I have paraphrased, to give
queen's ecclesiastical laws." clearly what I conceive to be their
2 Neal states this point thus : " Be- true meaning.
cause he had not time, nor a con- ' Ante, Vol. H. pp. 387-389.
ference, as he craved, and as the

ch. l.j THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 29
ecclesiastical laws ; and there was never yet any
clause in their commission to offer subscription to
articles of their own devising."
As to Mr. Paget's irregularity in exercising the
ministry after suspension, "supposing the censure
was valid," yet he had obtained from the Archbishop
himself a release from that suspension before re
suming the ministry. Now, even if this release was
not sufficient, it was apprehended by Mr. Paget to
be so, the Archbishop being chief in the Commis
sion ; and " all canonists allow that mistakes of igno
rance, being void of wilful contempt, are a lawful
excuse to discharge irregularity." But although
these and other points were "argued at length,"
showing clearly the illegality of the censures, the
Court with unblushing brow persisted in their act,
and Mr. Paget's living was given to another.
The poor man then betook himself to keeping a
small school, as the only means in his power to meet
the necessities of a large family. But " the relent
less court pounced once more on their mangled vic
tim, requiring him to take out a license ; and, as a
previous condition, to subscribe the Articles " l of Re
ligion, — all of them ; 2 and, because he could not
do this, refused him a license, shut up his school,
and left him and his family to beggary. Their
curse was upon him as long as Archbishop Whitgift
lived.3 It is not, however, the illegality of these pro
ceedings merely which claims our notice ; but their
wanton and seemingly malicious cruelty. First of
all, the prosecution seems to have been instituted
1 Marsden, 166. 8 Neal, I. 170, 171. Brook, IL
• Strype's Whitgift, 377. 253.

30 THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. [Ch. L
to gratify a private pique ofthe complainant, — a
thing of frequent occurrence even in the case of
Puritan conformists. But more, it seems to have
been a wanton prosecution on the part of the
Commissioners ; for Mr. Paget was a quiet, peace
able man in the exercise of his ministry, attached
most affectionately to the Established Church, and
had prelatic license for each of the offences which
were alleged against him, and for which he suffered
unto beggary. " A very good, quiet, and learned
man," even Mr. Strype confesses ; " one of those
very peaceable and honest preachers upon whom
the rigorous requirement of subscription to the
Three Articles bore hard sometimes " ; — how many
times ? — " who duly complied with the customs and
devotions of the Church enjoined, but could not
so fully acquiesce therein as to approve every par
ticular rite and usage." J This is a large and an
important admission on the part of this historian,
and we thank him for it, for it bears seriously
upon those Church historians who have followed in
his wake, but who, unlike him, represent that " peace
able nonconformists were unrestrained and unmo
lested." 2 Even under all his persecutions and through
all his years of pinching penury, he was submissive
to the strokes of his ecclesiastical superiors and
faithful to the services, to the sacraments, and to
the unity of the Church. This appears clearly from
a pathetic letter which he wrote some years affcer-
Avards to the Lord Admiral Howard "by w*hom
he was much beloved."3
1 Strype's Whitgift, 377. Book IV., No. XI. Marsden (166)
2 Nares' "Life and Times of and Neal (I. 171) are mistaken in
Lord Burleigh, III. 13, 344, 350. supposing this letter to have been
8 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, addressed to Sir John Hawkins.

Ch. I.] THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 31
"It is some consolation to record," says that can
did writer Mr. Marsden, "that upon the primate's
death Mr. 'Paget was reinstated in the ministry,
and presented to the living of St. Agnes in Alders-
gate. Kindness accomplished what severity had as
sayed in vain. A virtuous and godly minister was
restored to usefulness and honor, and died in con-
formity with the Church of England."1
We trust this case may be remembered, as redo
lent, not only of the bald illegality, but also of
the persistent inhumanity, of Archbishop Whitgift's
administration. "Pages," adds Mr. Marsden, "might
be filled with similar details." He might have said
" volumes." In the year 1584, Bishop Aylmer suspended
thirty-eight laborious and devoted clergymen, in
the county of Essex alone, for the single offence
of not wearing the surplice, and threatened to
proceed to their deprivation, saying, " that they
should be white with him, or he would be black
with them."2 For the same offence, a Mr. Knight
was imprisoned six months and fined one hundred
marks.8 In the year 1585, Mr. Thomas Carew, minister
of Hatfield, in the county of Essex, was brought
before the High Commissioners. Mr. Strype says,
that " he could not speak three words of Latin,
and took upon him to preach without authority,
nay, against authority " ; i and Collier, that -- he had
his mission only from the people's election."5 Yet
1 '' Early Puritans," 167. 4 Strype's Aylmer, 120, 121.
• Neal, I. 167, note. ' Collier, VH. 43.
1 Ibid., 167.

32 THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. [Cn. I
he had been educated in the University of Oxford,
ordained by the Bishop of Worcester, and licensed
by Archbishop Grindal and by Bishop Aylmer him
self, who had also much commended his preaching.
Mr. Carew happened to offend his lordship by in
forming him that " in Essex, within the compass of
sixteen miles, were twenty-two non-resident minis
ters, and thirty wlio were insufficient for their office
and of scandalous lives, while at the same time
there were nineteen who were silenced for refusing
subscription." His lordship immediately took occa
sion to summon him before the Commissioners,
where various charges were brought against him,
some of which it is recorded were false, and others
were certainly improbable. But instead of proving
the charges, or attempting to prove them, the bishop
offered him the oath ex officio, and then sent him
to the Fleet prison for refusing it. Another clergy
man was sent to supply his cure, whom Mr. Allen,
the patron, refused to admit, as he had a perfect
right to do, and probably, as will appear, had good
reasons for doing. For this he also was committed
to prison. Both offered bail, which was refused
except 'on the conditions, which they would not
accept, that the patron would admit his lordship's
clergyman and that Mr. Carew would preach no
more in the diocese without further license. After
being in prison eight weeks, they appealed to the
Council, who liberated them. By this his lordship
was incensed, and wrote to their Honors, that, "if
such men — precisians, petty gentlemen, fools, rebels,
and rascals1 — were countenanced, he, for his part,
1 Neal, I. 167. Brook, II. 168.

Ch. I] THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 33
must yield up to her Highness all authority which
he had received at her hand."1 But the bishop
never ceased to persecute Mr. Carew until he had
driven him out of his diocese. To conclude : The
clergyman who had been sent to Hatfield in Mr.
CareAv's place was soon found guilty of adultery,
and when Bishop Aylmer was entreated by the
parishioners that for this crime he might be re
moved, and that then their former minister might
be restored, his lordship replied, that " for all the
livings he had, he would not deprive a poor man
of his living for the fact of adultery."2 So much
more unclerical and criminal did the Precisians of
the day consider the breach of ecclesiastical forms
than the breach of the seventh commandment of
the decalogue !
In the year 1586, John Gardiner, minister of
Maiden in Essex, was deprived by Bishop Aylmer
and committed to Newgate, — where he sickened of
the jail fever, — for matters falsely laid to his charge
seven years before, and of which he had been acquitted
by a regular course of law? So that Bishop Aylmer
proceeded in open contempt of the decisions of
the civil courts, and of that provision in the Act
of Uniformity which limited prosecution for offences
committed or alleged to a certain time*
We turn to one case more. In this same year,
Thomas Settle, minister of Boxford in Suffolk, was
cited before Archbishop Whitgift and his colleagues
in Commission, to answer to the following articles:
That he did not observe the order in the Book

1 Strype's Aylmer, 122. " Brook, I. 316, 317.
• Brook, II. 166. * 1 Eliz., Cap. U. Sec. VHL
VOL. III. 5

34

THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES.

[Ch. I.

of Common Prayer : That in baptism he did not
use the sign of the cross, nor admit the promise
and vow: That he did not marry with the ring:
That he frequented conventicles : That he denied
the lawfulness of private baptism by women, and
of baptism by ministers who could not preach :
and, That he denied that the soul of our Saviour
went to the regions of the damned. This last charge
was the only one upon which he was examined;
and the examination was as characteristic as brief.
"I confess it to be my opinion," said he, "that
Christ did not descend locally into hell, and in
this opinion I am supported by Calvin, Beza, and
other learned men."1
-- You are an ass, a dolt, a fool ; and they are
liars," replied the Archbishop.

1 " About this time, the profound
ly learned Hugh Broughton wrote
his book on Christ's descent into
Hades, to prove that Hades was a
general term for the world of souls,
and not to be confounded with Ge
henna, or Hell, the place of punish
ment." (Collier, VH. 43, note.
Strype's Whitgift, 482.) That the
soul of our Saviour, after his cruci
fixion, went to the world of woe,
was the generally received doctrine
of the Church of England. (Brook,
IL 222.) Except Bishop Aylmer,
who was a tolerable Hebraist, I find
none but Puritans who at this time
held to the true Scriptural meaning
of that Article in the Creed, '• He
descended into helL" Dr. Bancroft,
Dr. Cooper, Dr. Bilson, Archbishop
Whitgift, — a man of " bare Latin
studies" (Biog. Britannica, II. 610),
- - and other prominent Church
men, held to the false interpreta

tion. But " at length, and after
much strife, Broughton — account
ed the very rabbi of the age
— brought off the Archbishop."
(Strype's Aylmer, 246, 247.)
From Dr. Cooper's " Admonition
to the People of England," printed
in 1589, I give the following ex
tracts. " He " — Archbishop AVhit
gift — " firmly believeth that Christ
in soul descended into hell. All
the Martinists " — Puritans — " in
Christendom are not able to prove
the contrary : and they that en
deavor it do abuse the Scriptures,
and fall into many absurdities."
(p. 33.) " The Article of the Com
mon Creed touching Christ's de-
scension into hell, contrary to the
sense of all ancient writers, hath
been strangely interpreted, and by
some with unreverent speeches flatly
rejected." (p. 103.)

Ch. L] THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 35
" Your lordship ought not to rail at me, being a
minister of the Gospel."
" What! dost thou think it much to be called - ass'
and - dolt ' ? I have called many of thy betters so."
" True," — and in that word was a world of mean
ing, — "but the question is, How lawfully?"
-- Thou shalt preach no more in my Province."
" I am called to preach the Gospel, and I will
not cease to preach it."
" Neither you nor any one in England shall preach
without my leave " ; and the Archbishop immedi
ately commanded him to be taken close prisoner to
the Gate-house.
" Have you subscribed ? " asked the Dean of West
minster. "Yes; I have subscribed, and am ready to sub
scribe again, to the doctrine of faith and the sacra
ments, being as much as the law requires. But
to other rites and ceremonies, I neither can nor
will subscribe."
" Then," said the Archbishop, " thou shalt be sub
ject to the ecclesiastical authority."
" I thank God," replied Mr. Settle, " you can use
violence only on my poor body " ; a noble reply
and worthy of any Christian martyr.
The Archbishop then committed him close prisoner
to the Gate-house, where he was confined about
six years.1 His tendencies to "Independency" are
manifest in the bold and decisive manner in which
he met the threats of the Primate, particularly in
his round assertion that "preach the Gospel of
Christ he would." Those tendencies were but de-
• Brook, II. 46, 47.

36 THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. [Cn. I
veloped by the imperious and insulting words which
we have recited, and by " the Ecclesiastical author
ity" which followed. Mr. Settle went to the Gate
house a non-conforming Puritan only. He came
out utterly alienated from the Established Church.1
Archbishop Whitgift certainly made one Brownist;
and we have a grave suspicion that he made thou
sands. We turn aside a moment to notice tAvo statements
which concern the Puritans about this time. It is
said, that Lord Burleigh made a sagacious experi
ment, having the aspect of a conciliatory overture,
to demonstrate the impossibility of accommodating
the differences in the Church. It is stated that he
requested the Presbyterians to frame such a liturgy
as they desired to have in lieu of the one authorized
by law ; that some of them did so ; that others of
them dissented from this draft, and framed another;
that still a third party dissented from these two ;
that a fourth party dissented from all the others,
and that his lordship hereupon " smoothly " " put
them off until they should present him a pattern
with perfect consent." A "somewhat amusing ma
noeuvre," says one, " in which his lordship's sagacity
and charity are equally conspicuous." Unfortunately
for the story — which is cited to prove a want of
unanimity among the Presbyterians of which we
have no intimation elsewhere — it is supported by
no authority whatever. "It be fathered rather on
public report, than fixed on any particular author in
those days avowing the same." 2
1 Brook, H 47. a Fuller, Book IX. p. 178. Col-

2h. I.] THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. 37
It is also stated that Mr. Secretary Walsingham
made a generous offer to meet the scruples of the
Puritans. " He offered," it is said, " in the queen's name,
that the three ceremonies at which they seemed
most to boggle — kneeling at the communion, wear
ing the surplice, and making the sign of the cross in
baptism — should be expunged from the Book of
Common Prayer, if that would content them. They
replied, that " they would not leave so much as a hoof
behind,"1 "meaning that they would have the Church
liturgy wholly laid aside, and not be obliged to use
any office in it."2 All this wears the appearance of
improbability. "It is by no means agreeable to the
queen's general conduct " ; 3 it is unaccountable that
such overtures should have been scornfully rejected;
and the pedigree of the story is too sorry and sus
picious to sustain its legitimacy.4
The facts presented in this chapter might have
been suppressed, and would have been, had we
heeded only the suggestions of Christian charity.
We certainly find no gratification in recording them.
But as they show clearly the temper of the two
principal members of the Ecclesiastical Commission,
and thus indicate the temper of the whole Court,
lier, VII. 16, and note. Collier re- * Hallam, 135, note.
cites this tradition with much zest ' Dr. Heylin says, that Dr. Bur-
as a fact ; not noticing the impor- gess told him that Mr. Knewstubbs
tant clause which I here quote from told him that Secretary Walsing-
Fuller. Collier gives it under date ham told him. (Collier, VII. 16.)
of 1583; Fuller, under date of This is a sort of testimony certainly
1585. unreliable in any case ; and much
1 Heylin's Presbyterians, Book more suspicious when conflicting
VII. Sec. 42. with probabilities.
• Collier, VII. 16.

3S THE TEMPER OF THE PRELATES. [Cn- T
scandalous as some of them are, we could not have
covered them with a mantle without failing in jus
tice to those who suffered, and who have been brand
ed in history as contumacious.
When the Prelates were moved by a spirit so
unlike that of Christ in their government of the
Church, when they made such a spirit the great
motive power of a tremendous ecclesiastical ma
chinery, not only outraging law and right and hu
manity, but even decency itself, can we wonder that
men resented the outrage, and that Christians revolted
from the discipline ?
We do not believe that Parker and Whitgift and
Sandys and Aylmer were sinners above all the
dwellers in the Church of England ; but we do be
lieve that the vicious unition of Church and State,
sustained by the self-interest of ecclesiastical magis
trates and energized by irresponsible power, would
have made a Parker, a Whitgift, a Sandys, or an Ayl
mer of almost any man placed in their position. It
is rarely that more than one Grindal is to be found
in a generation.

CHAPTEK II.
TRAVERS AND HOOKER.
Richard Hooker's Arrival at London. — He is inveigled to Marriage.
— His sad Condition. — Walter Travers recommended to the Mas
tership of the Temple. — Archrishop Whitgift protests against it.
— Travers refuses Episcopal Ordination. — Hooker appointed to the
Mastership. — He refuses to await the Suffrages of the Templars.
— The Pulpit Controversy of Travers and Hooker. — Their differ
ent Styles of preaching. — Travers publicly oiidep.ed by the Arch
bishop to cease Preaching. — The Archbishop's Reasons. — Travers
appeals to the Privy Council. — His Argument for the Validity of
his Presbyterian Ordination. — His Friends in the Council baffled.
— The Objection to his Ordination a Pretence. — Hooker wearies
of his Unpopularity and resigns the Mastership.
1581-1586.
When Elisha the prophet was in Israel, he often
passed through the city of Shunem. Perceiving
this, a certain Shunammite and his wife prepared
and furnished an apartment under their own roof,
for his sole use and behoof, because he was " an holy
man of God."1 Queen Elizabeth had made a like
provision for those of her clergy whom she might
appoint, from time to time, to preach at St. Paul's
Cross. The house thus provided — and which had
its resident host and hostess — was appropriately
called " The Shunammite's House." In addition to
his stipend for his public service, each preacher was
entitled to full hospitalities here "for two days be
fore, and one after, his sermon."
• 2 Kings iv. 8-10.

40 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Cn. H.
Some time in the year 1581, a clergyman from the
University of Oxford appeared before the door on
horseback. Though but about tAventy-seven years
of age, he dismounted with every sign of extreme
infirmity. A journey of two days or more upon the
back of a rough-going horse, and the latter part of
the way through a drizzling rain, had been so hard
an experience for a man of quiet and sedentary life,
that it cost him both effort and pain to leave his
saddle and creep into his house of refuge. He
stood before honest John Churchman and his wife —
the host and hostess — so stiff and sore, so cold and
wet and weary and weather-beaten, as to excite their
compassion and their apprehensions. He was a man
of -- a SAveet serene quietness of nature " ; yet it so
far gave way that he spoke with " passion against a
friend that dissuaded him from footing it to London,
and for finding him no easier a horse." He was
utterly disheartened, too, assuring Churchman and
his wife that the two days allotted to him for
repose, and all other means whatever, could not
enable him to perform his task at Paul's Cross on
the next Sunday. But Mistress Churchman bade
him be of good cheer, and trust himself to her skill
in leech-craft. The poor man, "possest with faint-
ness and fear," submitted meekly; and by means
of a warm bed, warm drinks, good posset, and care
ful nursing, he was enabled to perform the office of
the Sunday. He was very grateful, and expressed
himself so, with all the simplicity of a child. Guile
less himself, he suspected no guile in others. Trans
parent himself, he trusted to every one's outward
show. His life having been passed in the cloister,

Ch. IT.] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 41
and in the Christian's closet, he was necessarily
ignorant of the ways and wiles of the world. His
hostess, on the contrary, had been trained in the
shrewd school of trade, — her husband having been
a draper of good note in Watling Street, — and she
had become skilled in the art of disposing of wares
and in reading the characters of her customers.
She had read that of her new guest at a glance,
and now betook herself to her old vocatioii of traf
fic. After modestly acknowledging his expressions
of gratitude, she said, " It grieveth me sore, Master
Hooker, that a preacher who so commandeth the
respect of our good Bishop of London,1 — for I did
observe his lordship's eager hearing of your sermon,
— should be in peril of having his light go out at
noonday, and all for lack of the remedy that God
provideth." " Prithee ! Mistress Churchman, whereto tendeth
your speech ? His lordship's humor, perchance, was
but a misliking of my doctrine that God hath two
wills touching men's salvation. But of my light
going out at noon, pray, Mrs. Churchman, explain."
"You have but a tender constitution, good sir;
and it needeth cherishing."
" My constitution ! Of a verity, I do perceive
nothing tender therein."
"Albeit, when you came hither you did."
" A tender constitution ! and it needeth care !
Mayhap ; mayhap, Mistress Churchman. Yet have
I never thought so aforetime. Think you so?"
" Troth ; that do I. It be plain to me that you
have but a frail body ; that if you take not care
* Hooker's Works, I. 26 ; II. 483.
VOL. III. 6

42 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Ch H
for it, your usefulness will soon have an end ; that
if you do care for it by the means of God's ap
pointment, you will answer more largely and longer
your high vocation."
"P sooth, I be bound to believe thy better judg
ment ; for I was much afflicted by my journey."
"Ay, Master Hooker; and it was a woman's care
which God blessed to your reviving. Of a surety
it be best for you, good sir, to have a wife that may
prove a nurse to you ; such an one as may both
prolong your life and make it more comfortable."
Mr. Hooker looked bewildered. The idea was
new to him. At length he said, half soliloquizing,
-' A wife ! "
" To be an helpmeet for the infirmities of the
body and the burdens of life."
The good man fell into a brown study for a few
moments, sighed, and then said, in a submissive
tone, " Good Mistress Churchman, thou art right,
methinks ; but I know not how to do it."
" Trust the providing of a wife to some discreet
matron ; and if there be none other that you pre
fer, let me do the office."
" I know no discreeter matron than thyself, good
Mistress Churchman ; and sith it seemeth I do err
in not entering upon the holy state of matrimony,
I will intrust this business to thy discretion, an
thou wilt essay it."
"Most heartily, Master Hooker."
And so it was agreed, — she to find him a wife,
and he "promising upon a fair summons to return
to London and accept her choice." Before long he
Avas summoned ; returned according to promise, and

Ch. II] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 43
found himself knit for life unto Mistress Church
man's daughter Joan, "who brought him neither
beauty nor portion " ; and was, withal, a domineer
ing woman and shrew. Thus was Mr. Richard
Hooker — "the judicious Hooker" — taken to be a
husband. Of course he must abandon "the tranquillity of
his college, that garden of piety, of pleasure, of
peace and a sweet conversation," and enter upon
" those corroding cares which pertained to a mar
ried priest and a country parsonage." Edwin
Sandys and George Cranmer, who had been his
loving pupils at Oxford, soon visited him at his
new home in Buckinghamshire ; and found to their
great grief, that at one time the order from Joan
was, "Richard! go tend the sheep"; at another
time, " Richard ! leave your company and rock
the cradle." Richard meekly obeyed.
"My dear tutor," said Mr. Cranmer at parting,
u I am sorry that your lot is fallen in no better
ground as to your parsonage ; and more sorry that
your wife proves not a more comfortable com
panion." "My dear George," replied Mr. Hooker in his
quiet way, " if saints have usually a double share
in the miseries of this life, I that am none ought
not to repine at what my wise Creator hath ap
pointed for me, but labor (as indeed I do daily)
to submit mine to his will, and possess my soul
in patience and peace."1
1 Izaak Walton's " Life of Hooker," in Hooker's Works, I. pp. 15,
26 - 29. Oxford, 1839.

4:4 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. ICn II
The Temple in London was one of the Inns of
court, or colleges in which students of law resided
and received instruction.1 The gentlemen of the
Temple, benchers and pupils, held religious w-orship
by themselves in their own chapel, and were pro
vided with two religious teachers, — the Master and
the Lecturer. One of these officiated in the pub
lic services of the morning, and the other in those
of the afternoon.
In the year 1584, Dr. Richard Alvey, Master of
the Temple, sensible that he was about to end his
days, joined with the gentlemen of the society in
recommending, as his successor, Mr. Walter Travers,
who had been associated with him as Lecturer about
four years,2 and with whom he had cordially co
operated in promoting Christian piety among tho
learned benchers. This recommendation was pre
sented to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh, and by him
communicated to the queen, in whom was the dis
posal of the place. His lordship added his own
personal approval, and also urged the Archbishop
of Canterbury "to yield his consent unto her Ma-
1 " Our Inns of Court, or socie- members, but have certain orders
ties of the law, .... are formed by among themselves which by consent
masters, principals, benchers," — have the force of laws." "The
senior members of the societies, — Temples, which we now call the
" stewards, and other proper officers. Inns of Court, was the place where
The chief of them have chapels for they " — the Knights Templar —
divine service ; and all of them pub- " dwelt  The chief minister in
lie halls for exercises, readings, and the Temple church in London is
arguments, which the students are still called Master of the Temple."
obliged to perform and attend for a (Jacob's Law Dictionary, articles
competent number of years, before " Inns," " Templars," and " Master
admitted to speak at the bar, &c. of the Temple.")
These societies or colleges, never- 2 " Almost six years " previous to
theless, are no corporations, nor 1586. Strype's Whitgift, 252, and
have any judicial power over their Appendix, p. 109.

Ch. II.]

TRAVERS AND HOOKER.

45

je&ty.1 Mr. Travers was in high esteem with Lord
Burleigh, being his lordship's domestic chaplain, and,
for a time, tutor to his son Robert, afterwards Earl
of Salisbury.2 As we have before stated, " in honor
and esteem" among the Puritans, he was second
to none but, Mr. Cartwright.3 In August, Dr. Alvey
died. But the Archbishop, "fearing the infection
of the young gentlemen of the Temple by the
principles of that sort of men," immediately wrote
to her Majesty protesting against the appointment

1 Strype's Whitgift, 173. Brook,
II. 315. Hooker's Works, I. 30.
2 Fuller, Book IX. p. 214.
8 Ante, Vol. II. 273. Strype's
Whitgift, 173. In the month of
November or of December of this
year, Mr. Travers and Dr. Thomas
Sparke — as representatives of the
Puritan party — appeared at what
is known in history as " the Lam
beth Conference." The Archbishop
of Canterbury, the Archbishop of
York, and Cooper, Bishop of Win
chester, appeared as representatives
of the Precisian party. The object
ofthe conference — which took place
at the instance of some of the Privy
Council — was to discuss certain
points in tho Book of Common
Prayer to which the Puritans took '
exceptions. The members of the
Council and other honorable per
sons were present as auditors.
The principal topics of discussion
were : the reading of the apochry-
phal writings in public worship, by
which they wore put upon a level
with the Holy Scriptures ; and
private baptism performed by lay
men, and even by women, a custom
which implied at least that the out

ward ordinance was both necessary
and effectual to the salvation of
children. It is needless, and would
be tedious, to recite the details of
this discussion. They may be found
in Brook, II. 316 - S23. I will only
observe that the Archbishop of Can
terbury insisted that the apochry-
phal books were part of the Holy
Scriptures, were given by inspira
tion of God, and were without error ;
and that the Archbishop of York
declared that he disallowed, had
forbidden, and would not suffer,
private baptism in his diocese. The
conference continued two days, —
not four hours only, as Strype
and Collier say, — when each
party carried away the opinions
they brought with them. Travers
and Sparke were nonconformists to
their deaths ; and Whitgift never
abated his hostility to the Puritans.
Yet Mr. Strype says that the effect
of the conference was that Sparke
and Travers " were persuaded to
conform themselves." Strype's AVhit
gift, 170. Fuller, Book IX. p. 170.
Brook, II. 317 - 323. Neal, I. 166,
167. Collier, VH. 34. Marsden,
160, 161.

46 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Ch. IL
of Mr. Travers, arguing that he was -- a chief author
of dissension in the Church, a contemner of the
Book of Prayers and other orders by authority
established, and either in no degree of the minis
try at all, or else ordered beyond the seas not
according to the form in this Church of England
used." At the same time, he recommended Dr.
Bond, one of her Majesty's chaplains, to the Master
ship of the Temple.1 In a letter to Lord Burleigh,
his Grace took occasion to say also, that Mr. Travers's
" lectures were so barren of matter that the hearers
took no commodity thereby." 2 Upon this point, he
differed from everybody else. Indeed, it would
seem that he never could perceive in a Puritan
either grace, capacity, learning, or good behavior.
In this letter the Archbishop added, that, unless
Mr. Travers could prove that he had been ordained
according to the laws of the Church of England,
and would subscribe the Three Articles, he could
by no means consent to placing him as Master of
the Temple, or in any function of the Church.3
Many of the Puritans had conscientious scruples
about receiving episcopal ordination, although they
did not question its validity. From time to time,
such persons had gone abroad to receive Presby
terian ordination at Middleburgh, Antwerp, and
other places. Mr. Travers was one of these, and
had been ordained in due form at Antwerp, in 1578,
by a synod of ministers and elders, of which fact
he had the proper certificate.4 Lord Burleigh, find-
1 Strype's Whitgift, 173-175. ' Ibid., 175. Hooker's Works, H. 465.
Hooker's Works, I. 30, 81. * Fuller, Book IX. p. 214. Brook,
2 Strype's Whitgift, 174. H. 314.

Ch. IL] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 47
ing that this fact was an obstacle to Mr. Travers's
preferment to the Mastership, and wishing that he
might secure it, proposed to him -- to be made min
ister according to the orders of the Church of Eng
land." 1 To this Mr. Travers very properly objected.
In a letter to his lordship, written in November,2 he
argued : That it was contrary to all ecclesiastical
usage, ancient and modern, that one regularly
ordained in any Church not heretical or schismat
ical should not be acknowledged, throughout the
universal Church, as sufficiently qualified for any
ministerial action : That the civil law itself expressly
provided for such recognition : That the same usage
had always obtained to the present day in the
Church of England, it being only provided by the
Act 13 Elizabeth that those ordained by other than
the English form should subscribe to the articles of
faith and the sacraments, to qualify them to enjoy the
livings of the Church : That the setting aside of one
regularly ordaining act, by requiring a second, was
contrary to the ordinance of God, and would, by
implication at least, vitiate all acts — such as mar
riage, baptism, etc. — which the minister had per
formed by virtue of his former ministry. -- Where
fore," he concluded, "I beseech your lordship to
consider whether my subscribing to the Articles of
Religion which only concern the true faith and the
doctrine of the sacraments doth not, by virtue of the
Statute, as fully enable me for dealing in the min
istry as if I had first been made minister by the
form established in this Church."8 There seems to
1 Strype's Whitgift, 175. s Ibid., Appendix, Book HI. No.
• Ibid. XH.

48 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Cn. IL
have been no further discussion of this subject at
this time, for her Majesty set aside both candidates,
— Dr. Bond and Mr. Travers.
In the mean time Echvin Sandys had made interest
for his old tutor, with his father, the Archbishop of
York, pleading that the remediless affliction which he
bore under his wife might be at least mitigated by
his preferment to a better living. Consequently, " at
the Temple reading next after the death of Dr.
Alvey, his Grace, being there at dinner with the
judges, the reader, and the benchers of that soci
ety," took occasion to commend Mr. Hooker for
the Mastership. The result of this was, that Mr.
Hooker "was placed as Master of the Temple and
appointed to be preacher to the honorable society,
while Mr. Travers continued to be lecturer there."1
Mr. Hooker received his " patent on the seventeenth
day of March, 1 584-5, being then in the thirty-fourth
year of his age." 2
It was a fundamental rule of the Presbyterian
Puritans, that no man, however well qualified by his
education, should offer himself to the ministry, but
should await a call thereto from some particular
church.3 Upon the principle involved in this rule,
Mr. Travers had scrupulously conducted himself.
The place of lecturer in the Temple, to which per
tained only the duty of preaching,4 was not present-
ative, — for it was no benefice, i. e. it had no stipend
attached to it by law, — but was occupied by whom
soever the Templars themselves might elect; and
1 Hooker's Works, I. 29. Strype's • Ante, Vol. XI. 270.
Whitgift, 175, 235. * Hooker's Works, H. 464.
2 Hooker's Works, I. 29, 30.

Ch II] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 49
the occupant was supported only by the benevo
lence or voluntary contribution of the society.1
Thus Mr. Travers could fill this place in consistency
with his own views about popular election, and also
without subscribing as was by law required of those
who might be presented to benefices, or, as was
required by the Archbishop, without law. With the
same consistency, when " the Temple had desired
that he might have succeeded in Mr. Alvey's place,
 yet neither by speech nor by letter did
he make suit to any for the obtaining of it.2 Other
wise he would have conducted himself in flagrant
opposition to his well-known doctrine," " that labor
ing and suing for places and charges in the Church
was not lawful."3 For his exclusion from the place
when solicited for him by the gentlemen of the
society and by the Lord Treasurer, he bore no ill-
will toward Mr. Hooker ; nor could he, " for he did
in no sort esteem Mr. Hooker to have prevented or
undermined him."4 He was even glad, as many
could testify, that Mr. Hooker was placed there, for
they were old friends and were connected by ties of
marriage.6 Under the preaching of Dr. Alvey and Mr. Tra
vers — " whose principles did somewhat correspond " 6
— the society of the Templars had become largely
in sympathy with Puritanical sentiments. Thus,
although the gift of the Mastership did not depend
1 Hooker's Works, II. 463, 464. * Hooker's Works, n. 465; Tra-
* Walton wantonly says that Mr. vers to the Privy Council.
Travers " used his most zealous * Ibid.
endeavors to be Master of the 6 Ibid., 466. Fuller, Book IX.
Temple." (Hooker's Works, I. p. 216.
50.) ° Walton ; Hooker's Works, I. 80.
vol. in. 7

50 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Cu. H.
upon their suffrages, yet the opinion prevailed
among them, that at least an outward show of re
spect to their wills and voices was due from whoever
might be appointed by the queen as their spiritual
teacher. Hence it was that Lord Burleigh, on the
seventeenth day of September, wrote to the Arch
bishop " that he had let Dr. Bond," then a candidate
by nomination of his Grace, -- know that if he came
not to the place with some applause of the Company,
he should be weary thereof."1 And hence also it
was that the following incident occurred.
The evening before Mr. Hooker was to preach in
the Temple for the first time, Mr. Travers and two
gentlemen of the society waited upon him aud
advised him "to change his purpose of preaching
in the Temple the next day, that his coming to
the place might be notified to the congregation,
and that so their allowance might seal his calling."
To which Mr. Hooker replied, that, "as where
such order existed he would not break it, so, where
it never had been, he might not, of his own head,
take upon him to begin it," adding that he re
ceived well the intention of the proposal, and hoped
that his answer, although contrary, would not be
misliked.2 This gave great umbrage to some, and
excited such a prejudice against Mr. Hooker, that
neither what he did nor what he preached was
favorably received. Besides this, hard sayings about
him began to be afloat.3 These things led to a
second conference between the Master and the Lec
turer, at the instance of a mutual friend. At this
1 Strype's Whitgift, 174. 8 Ibid.
2 Hooker's AVorks, II. 478; Hooker to Whitgift.

Ch. IL] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 51
interview Mr. Travers complained of it as a fault
that Mr. Hooker should have entered upon his
charge without "the formality of a popular allow
ance"; and he also took exceptions to his not
following his sermon with prayer, to his kneeling in
prayer, and to his kneeling when he received the
communion.1 These trivial disagreements between
the two divines soon expanded, embraced graver
matters, and elicited more serious behaviors.
Although the Puritan clergy exhibited from the
pulpit the grand truths of the Gospel eminently and
to the conversion of their hearers from the error of
their ways, both towards God and towards man, —
of which abundant evidence appears in the annals
of this reign, — yet, to a great extent, the religious
proclivity of the day was to the pulpit discussion
of the outward forms of worship and of the sacra
ments, and to speculative and unprofitable disser
tations upon points of theology, so-called. There
were, indeed, too many, in those days of ceremonial
controversy, who were ministers, not of the spirit,
but of the letter; too many who heeded not the
inspired declaration that the letter killcth, but the
spirit giveth life.2 But the first instance, we think,
which occurred under Elizabeth's reign in which
Churchmen and Puritans came into collision on any
point of doctrine, was immediately after Mr. Hook
er's accession to the Mastership of the Temple. It
would be useless to inquire whether, or how far, the
frailties of human nature had anything to do in this
case. Notwithstanding the mutual good-will at the
1 Hooker's Works, H. 478, 479; "2 Cor. iii. 6.
Hooker to Whitgift.

52 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Ch. It.
outset between Mr. Hooker and Mr. Travers, and
notwithstanding the truly Christian temper of each,
there may have been some lurking jealousy between
them, of which each was unconscious, and which
operated in each insidiously and antagonistically.
But we have only to do with facts.
Mr. Hooker, who was an original but somewhat
eccentric thinker, broached some doctrines in the
Temple — about the Church of Rome being a true
Church of Christ, about the salvation of Papists,
about universal redemption, and about predestina
tion J — which were purely scholastic, but which
were in opposition to those Avhich Mr. Travers had
received with full faith from the school of Geneva,
and which, undoubtedly, he believed to be dangerous
to those who heard them. " So that what Mr.
Hooker delivered in the forenoon Mr. Travers con
futed in the afternoon." " The forenoon sermon
spake Canterbury and the afternoon Geneva."2 The
" confuting " sermons of Mr. Travers were " without
touch' of Mr. Hooker's person";3 and on either side
" there was little of bitterness ; but each party
brought all the reasons he was able to prove his
adversary's opinion erroneous." 4 Thus, without per
sonal acrimony, there was perpetual tilting in the
pulpit of the temple. The gentlemen Templars,
themselves amateurs in the art of intellectual spar
ring, were greatly interested in the polemics of their

1 Strype's Whitgift, 235 - 238. 468. Strype's Whitgift, 235. Ful-
Hooker's Works, II. 466 - 474 ; ler, Book IX. p. 216.
Travers to the Council. Strype's ' Hooker's Works, H. 466.
Annals, V. 632-634. « Ibid., I. 50.
2 Hooker's Works, I. 50; II. 466,

Ch. IL] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 53
chapel. Sir Edward Coke, Sir James Altham, and
other honorable benchers, as well as the gentlemen
who were in their pupilage, were as much engrossed
in taking notes of each sermon, as eager and as
exact, as they would have been in taking instruc
tions or statements from their clients.
These two divines, each in his own peculiar way,
were men rich in talents and in learning. Yet they
differed greatly as they stood in the pulpit. Mr.
Hooker, with all his originality of mind, was insig
nificant in person, his voice was feeble and unmusi
cal, and he had no grace of intonation or of action.
His manner was perfectly rigid. He was merely a
reader of his manuscript. His style of writing was
copious, but extremely involved, " driving on a
whole flock of clauses before he came to the close of
a sentence." Thus he was obscure, tedious, and irk
some to his hearers, save the few who were gifted
with more than ordinary powers of attention.1 On
the other hand, Mr. Travers was happy in his utter
ance, in his action, in his method, and in his style ;
and at the same time his " matter was profitable."
With these popular qualifications, added to his
"learning and -honesty, his winning behavior and
blameless life,"2 he not only "preached with great
approbation of the younger gentlemen of that so
ciety, and, for the most part, was approved by Mr.
Hooker himself in the midst of their oppositions," 8 but
" he was well allowed and loved by the generality of
that house." 4 Owing to this difference between the
1 Fuller, Book IX. p. 216. Col- ' Ibid.
lier, VII. 150. 4 Strype's Whitgift, 174; Bur-
2 Walton, Hooker's Works, I. 50. leigh to Whitgift.

54. TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Ch. II.
two, the ebb-tide of the congregation was in the fore
noon ; the flood-tide in the afternoon.1 These facts
were but a sorry commentary upon the Archbishop's
statement to the Lord Treasurer, that " Travers's
lectures were so barren of matter that the hearers
took no commodity thereby." 2
Such continued to be the state of things in the
Temple church until March, 1585-6, a little more
than a year3 after Mr. Hooker's induction.
It is asserted, and perhaps is true, that Mr.
Hooker complained to the Archbishop of this pul
pit controversy.4 If he did so, we can easily con
ceive that it might have been, from the purest
motives. But, whether in consequence of such com
plaint — as seems to be implied — or not, on the
twenty-first day of March, 1585-6,5 as Mr. Travers
was ascending the pulpit he was stopped by an
officer of the Archbishop, who served him with a
letter from the High Commission Court inhibiting
him " to preach or execute any act of ministry, in
the Temple or elsewhere." Mr. Travers, whose
mild and uniform submission to authority was al
ways the admiration of even his adversaries, quietly
turned to the congregation, informed them of the
1 Fuller, Book IX. p. 216. having been "taken from him."
2 Strype's Whitgift, 174. Such a letter he would have been
8 Hooker's Works, H. 479 ; Hook- likely to have written soon after the
er to Whitgift. fact. Strype says that " the very
* Collier, Vn. 150. Brook, II. next day after Travers had written
325. this letter being Sunday," &c. ; i. e.
5 I get at this date thus. Mr. March 28th, 1586. So that the
Travers wrote a letter to Lord Bur- previous Sunday — March 21st,
leigh, dated the 27th day of March, 1585-6 — was doubtless the day
1586, (Strype's Whitgift, 250,) in when Mr. Travers was suspended.
which he speaks of " his calling "

Ch. IL] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 55
contents of the missive, and dismissed them with
a request that they would quietly retire to their
chambers. They did so. But even those who ap
proved of the inhibition itself were much incensed
by the gross manner in which it was served.1
The Archbishop, by serving this process under
circumstances which rendered it peculiarly insult
ing, — by serving it in just such a way, in just such
a place, and at just such a time as a vindictive
persecutor would have chosen for revenge, and as
a malicious persecutor would have chosen for pro
voking to some flagrant and public indiscretion, —
has left another and very black blot upon his name,
which can never be effaced. Yet the case Avas
further aggravated by the fact that this process
was served Avithout any reproof of Mr. Travers's
proceedings, without any warning to desist, Avith
out any examination by the Commissioners, and
even without any summons to answer to charges ; 2
in utter repugnance to the common courtesies of
life, to the usages of the ecclesiastical courts, and
to the laws of Christ.
We cheerfully admit that the pulpit controversy
between these two divines,' courteously conducted
as it was, could not have been for the spiritual
good of the Templars, and that in some quiet
way it should have been stopped. But if Mr.
Travers was to be blamed for controverting Mr.
Hooker, was not Mr. Hooker equally to be blamed
•Fuller, Book IX. p. 217. 2 Hooker's Works, H. 460 ; Tra-
Hooker's AVorks, II. 460 ; Travers vers to the Council.
to the Council. Brook, H. 325.
Strype's Whitgift, 235.

56 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Cn. IL
for controverting Mr. Travers? We can see no
difference betAveen the two. Both Avere equally
in fault. Where, then, should censure have fallen ?
Upon both. But the Archbishop made his election
to suit his prelatic preference. So Ave think.
The reasons upon Avhich his arbitrary act was
based, Avere : 1. " That Mr. Travers was not law
fully called to the function of the ministry, nor
alloAved to preach, according to the laAvs of the
Church of England ; 2. That he had preached Avith
out license ; 3. That he had inveighed against cer
tain points of doctrine taught by Mr. Hooker, not
conferring with him nor complaining of it to them,"
— the High Court of Commission, — contrary to her
Majesty's order in the seventh year of her reign.1
Mr. Travers petitioned the Privy Council that his
disqualification might be revoked ; " that by their
godly wisdom some good course might be taken
for the restoration of him to his ministry and place
again."2 He also complained to their lordships
that he should have been punished before he had
been heard in his own defence, and that the
punishment thus grievously inflicted — in a way
forbidden both by common equity and by Holy
Writ — should have been the most severe, in his
estimation, which could have been devised.3
In answer to the second point above stated, he
declared that " he had allowance to preach from
the Bishop of London, as was testified by two sev
eral letters of his lordship to the gentlemen of

1 Hooker's Works, II. 462, 464, 2 Hooker's Works, n. 475.
465. Fuller, Book IX. p. 217. 3 Fuller Book IX. p. 217.

Ch. IL] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 57
the Temple, who, without such letters, would not
have permitted him to officiate there."1
To the third article he replied, — and Mr. Hooker
himself afterwards repeatedly admitted, — " that he
had conferred with Mr. Hooker often upon his doc
trines " ; 2 but he could not deny the facts that he
had controverted Mr. Hooker and had not com
plained of him to the Commissioners ; and in his
justification of these facts, legally, he failed.3 Still
there Avas force in what he said in another part
of this Paper, and which had pertinent application
to the faults here charged. "I have credibly heard,"
he wrote, " that some of the ministry have been
committed for grievous transgressions of the laAvs
of God and man, being of no ability to do other
service in the Church than to read ; yet it hath
been thought charitable, and standing with Chris
tian moderation and temperance, not to deprive
such of ministry and beneficence, but to inflict some
more tolerable punishment. Which I write not be
cause such, as I think, were to be favored, but to
show hoAV unlike their dealing is with me."4 How-
1 Hooker's Works, n. 464, and by may grow offence and disquiet
Brook, II. 326, compared. ofthe people  And that it" —
1 Hooker's Works, II. 466, 467, the complaint — "be presented
495, 497. within one month after the words
* Ibid., 471, 472. spoken." (Sparrow's Collection,
By "The Advertisements "issued p. 123.) The Temple, if I mistake
in 1564, it was ordered that " if any not, was " exempt " from ordinary
licensed preacher .... should for- diocesan jurisdiction. If so, the
tune to preach .... to the deroga- spirit of this " Advertisement " re-
tion of the ... . doctrine received, quired complaint, in this case, to
the hearers should denounce the be made to the- queen Commission-
same to the ordinaries or the next ers, who had authority over all
bishop of tho same place ; but no places, exempt or not exempt.
man openly to contrary or to im- 4 Hooker's Works, II. 461. 462.
pugn the same speech .... where-
vol. m. 8

58 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. ICh. IL
ever much this remark might Aveigh in the minds
of many of the Council, it Avould weigh lightly in
deed in a court one of whose chief judges had
but just declared that, " for all the livings he had,
he Avould not deprive a poor man of his living for
the fact of adultery." 1
But the first reason alleged for silencing Mr.
Travers is the one Avhich most claims attention.
This was the Archbishop's "great reason."2 Yet —
we observe in passing — Mr. Hooker in his answer
to Mr. Travers made no mention of it. Expressing
his surprise that " exception should be again taken
to his ministry, since he had before" — Avhen pro
posed for the Mastership of the Temple — " been
called in question for it, and had so answered the
matter as he continued in his ministry," 3 Mr. Travers
repeated, in substance, his former argument. This
he did not only in his Petition to the Council, but
also in a separate Paper of " Reasons " 4 Avhich he
presented to Lord Burleigh. This Paper his lord
ship sent to the Archbishop for examination, who
returned it with marginal answers.5
" The making of a minister in one kingdom ought
not to be repeated in another," Avrote Mr. Tra
vers. To which his Grace replied, that -- the French
churches required it." This, if true, was certainly
no answer, unless, indeed, the infallibility of those
churches be supposed. We have, however, a con
tradictory statement from Mr. Travers, and one
which is, at least, as worthy of credit, for he sus-
1 Ante, p. 33. 4 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix,
2 Strype's Whitgift, 251. Book III. No. XXX.
8 Hooker's Works, H. 462. ' Strype's Whitgift, 251.

Cn. II.] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 59
tained it by citation of facts, — that "aU Churches
do acknowledge and receive him for a minister of
the Word who hath been lawfully called there
unto in any Church of the same profession."
" Excepting always such Churches as allow of
Presbytery and practise it," was the Archbishop's
annotation. By which we are at a loss to under
stand whether he meant that all Churches except
the Presbyterian acknowledged ordination conferred
by other Churches than their own, or whether he
meant that it was the universal practice of the
Church to acknowledge all ordination except that
conferred by Presbyterians.
Mr. Travers argued that -- the repeating of the
calling " — i. e. ordination — " to the ministry made
void the former calling, and, consequently, the acts
— confirmations, marriages, &c. — done by virtue
of it." The Archbishop summarily disposed of this
by writing, "This is untrue."
"Many Scots and others," wrote Mr. Travers,
" made ministers abroad, have been so acknowl
edged in the Church of England, and have executed
their ministry therein accordingly." The truth of
this has already been shown.1 Besides, — as Mr.
Marsden judiciously remarks, — the Act 13 Eliz.
Cap. XII., the highest authority Avhich could be
cited in the case, "recognizes the validity of foreign
orders; and indeed conveys to us historical evidence
that ministers ordained by Presbyterian synods
were at that time beneficed in the Church of Eng
land."2 Yet Archbishop Whitgift quickly disposed
of this statement of Mr. Travers by writing, "I
1 Ante, Vol. H. 112. " " Early Puritans," p. 227.

60 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Cn. n.
know none such." We have before shoAved that
there were some other things Avhich his Grace did
not know, and Avhich he, of all men in the king
dom, ought to have knoAvn.1
Mr. Travers Avrote, that "when the same ques
tion was moved about Mr. Whittingham, neither
the Word of God, nor the law of the land, was
found against him";2 and that "he, notwithstanding
such replies against him, enjoyed still the benefit
he had by his ministry, and might have done, until
this day, if God had spared his life so long."8
Against this the Archbishop Avrote, " This is un
true ; for if Mr. Whittingham had lived, he would
have been deprived." Perhaps he would have been,
under Whitgift's administration. To judge of the
right between these tAvo conflicting opinions, we
refer to our history of Whittingham's case in the
preceding volume.
" The Act 13 Eliz. did not require that any
who had received orders should be ordered again,
but only that they should subscribe," &c, wrote
Mr. Travers. The Archbishop wrote in reply,
" The laAvs of this realm require that such as are
to be allowed as ministers in this Church of Eng
land should be ordered by a bishop." True. But
this was a disingenuous and unmanly, if not an
unbishoplike evasion ; for " the laws " concerned
only those A*-ho came to receive orders, not having
been ordained before. Whereas the point at issue
was — whether the Act 13 Eliz. did, or did not,
admit ordination by some other than a bishop to
1 Ante, Vol. II. 359, 413. a Hooker's Works, n. 463.
* Ibid., Chap. IV.

Ch. II.] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 61
be sufficient (with subscription) for ministry in the
Church of England. We think no one can doubt
upon this point. But however this may be, in
that day, men who Avere learned in the laAvs of the
land gave it as their opinion, that such persons,
upon subscription such as the Statute described,
-- were of like capacity to enjoy any place of minis
try within the land, as they which have been or
dered according to that which is now by laAv estab
lished." J The -- attempts which have lately been
made to show that this Act cannot possibly refer
to Presbyterian ministers," are plainly sophistical
and strained.2 We can find no law of England
which precluded from the exercise of the Christian
ministry in her Church such as had received Presby
terian ordination ; nor any other law but one of
Archbishop Whitgift's own making, by Avhich he
" forbade that any person should exercise any eccle
siastical function unless he had been admitted to
holy orders according to the manner of the Church of
England." 8
Mr. Travers further stated : " The late Arch
bishop of Canterbury, being made privy and ac
quainted with this my calling to the ministry
abroad, was contented I should preach in England.
The Bishop of London was likewise contented I
should preach at the Temple, which I have done
now almost six years."
" This is to abuse our patience," was the Arch
bishop's comment.
1 Hooker's Works, II. 463. bewildering specimen of hermeneu-
* Marsden, 228. Touching the tical ingenuity, p. 61.
meaning of this Act, Mr. Maskell * Ante, Vol. II. 350.
gives us a most remarkable and

62 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Ch. IL
"And the present Archbishop of Canterbury,"
continued Mr. Travers, "hath taken no exception
against me, since his coming to this Province, to
forbid me preaching in it, until this time."
"I neA-er allowed of your kind of calling," was
his Grace's marginal note, "neither can I allow of
it." x
Mr. Travers had powerful friends at Court;2 and
at the Council table, all who disliked the arbi
trary oppression of the Primate favored his cause;
and some of these did so also from personal re
gard for Mr. Travers himself.3 But there were tAvo
hinderances to the action of the Council for his re
lief. The Archbishop himself had a voice and an.
influence there ; for he, " Avith William Lord Coh-
ham and Thomas Lord Buckhurst, had been SAVorn in
only a feAv weeks before Mr. Travers's suspension,4
and he had " linked himself with these tAvo new
sworn Councillors, to the strengthening of his interest
with the queen, Avhen he should have occasion to
move anything in behalf of the Church." 6 Because
of this, "it afterwards fared worse with the minis
ters" dissenting.6 Upon this particular occasion,

1 In giving Mr. Travers's state- assisting friends ; but they were not
ments, I have quoted — except able to prevail," &c. But the Earl
where I have given other references of Leicester was at this time absent
— the Paper which he sent to Lord in the Low Countries. (Strype's
Burleigh, and upon which were Whitgift, 247.)
penned the Archbishop's answers. * Feb. 2d, 1585-6 ; Fuller, Book
2 Strype's Whitgift, 235. IX. p. 177. Strype's Whitgift, 247.
' Fuller, Book IX. p. 218. Brook, Murdin, 489 ; Morgan to the Queen
U. 328. of Scots. Holingshed, IV. 660, 777.
Izaak Walton says that, "in Stow, 719.
her Majesty's Privy Council, Tra- 6 Strype's Whitgift, 247.
vers, besides his patron, the Earl * Fuller, Book IX. p. 177.
of Leicester, and also with many

Ch. Ill TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 63
" he did not forget to remind the lords of what ill
consequence it might be to suffer a man so danger
ously furnished, both with parts and principles, to
harangue the Inns of Court."1
But, even upon the supposition that most of the
Council were desirous that her Majesty should re
voke the Archbishop's doings against Mr. Travers,
there was still an impediment to their action. The
ecclesiastical censure in this case had not emanated
from a diocesan tribunal, but from the most august
branch of the High Court of Commission, Avhere
presided the tAvo chief dignitaries of the Province
of Canterbury. Thus, to have moved for its rever
sal would have been taking a bold exception to an
act of a court specially commissioned and specially
trusted by the queen herself, and to an act in AA'hich
that Primate was conspicuous to whom she had spe
cially confided the administration of all the affairs
of the Church. It would have been a flagrant
reflection upon her Majesty's discretion.2 This fact,
and Whitgift's presence and influence at the Council
board, were sufficient to prevent any action there in
favor of Mr. Travers, however much he was be
friended. Thus it was, that " Whitgift's finger
moved more in Church matters than all the hands
of the Privy Councillors besides." And thus it was
that " Mr. Travers, notwithstanding the plenty of his
potent friends, was overborne by the Archbishop, and
could never obtain to be brought to a fair hearing." 8
1 Collier, VII. 151. If Collier is that the hearers took no commodity
correct, he has made a stinging con- thereby."
tradiction to Whitgift's statement to 2 Compare ante, Vol. n. 386,444.
Lord Burleigh, that " Mr. Travers's 3 Fuller, Book IX. p. 218.
lectures were so barren of matter

64 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Cn. II.
Soon after his suspension, he became president of
Trinity College, in Dublin, an office Avhich he occu
pied for several years.1 He ahvays cherished, as
he did even "in the very midst of the paroxysm
betAvixt Mr. Hooker and himself, a reverend esteem
ofhis adversary";2 and it is both a duty and a
pleasure to record that this sentiment was recipro
cated.3 For more than two years under the Primacy of
Grindal, and for nearly three years under that of
Whitgift, Mr. Travers had preached in the Temple
without let, hinderance, or objection; each Primate
well knowing whence he had derived his clerical
orders. Each Primate thus tacitly acknowledged
their validity ; for even Grindal, with all his catholi
city, would never have allowed any one, especially
in a situation so conspicuous and influential, to have
exercised ecclesiastical functions whom he did not
consider to have been regularly and truly ordered.
And although Whitgift struck chiefly, in his public
official act, at the Presbyterian orders of Mr. Tra
vers, we have yet to find evidence, either in the
documents which we have cited or on the pages of
his biography, that the Archbishop denied the ver
itable ordination of the man he persecuted. This
was not the point which he made against him. The
point was, — to use his own words, — that Mr. Tra
vers was " either in no degree of the ministry at all,
or else ordered beyond the seas, not according to
the form in this Church of England used," 4 — a fact
avowed and patent. If the Primate held that or-
1 Fuller, Book IX. p. 218. 3 Hooker's Works, I. 63.
2 Ibid., 217, 218. * Ibid., 31 ; Whitgift to the Queen.

Ch. IL] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 65
dering not according to the form of the English
Church was not real ordination, why did he use such
peculiar language to her Majesty? If he really
believed such ordering to be spurious, why did he
not rely solely upon this, without alleging Mr. Tra
vers's want of license ? and why did he not declare,
bluntly, that Mr. Travers was not in any degree of
the ministry ? which would have been in itself a suf
ficient reason for silencing him. Above all, if he
considered him not in any degree of the ministry,
why did he suffer him to continue as the lecturer
in the Temple a whole year after he had objected to
him for the Mastership ? If Mr. Travers was known
not to be ordained, this sufferance was not "pa
tience," as the Archbishop called it ; it was not " for
bearance " ; it was a winking at ecclesiastical irregu
larity; it was ecclesiastical obliquity; it was a sort
of obliquity not for a moment to be suspected in so
jealous and severe a champion of ecclesiastical Pre
cisianism. The conclusion is therefore forced upon
us, that, during nearly six years, by two Primates
and by Bishop Aylmer, " Mr. Travers's Presbyterian
orders had been allowed," 1 and that even his present
Grace of Canterbury considered that by these orders
he had been placed in some " degree of the ministry."
The real grounds of the Archbishop's proceeding
in this case seem to have been concealed from the
vieAV of the public. To us, they seem to have been
both his personal prejudice against Mr. Travers, and a
fear of his puritanical influence. In his private let
ters to Lord Burleigh and to her Majesty Avhen Mr.
Travers's coming to the Mastership was in suspense,
1 Marsden, 226.
VOL. m. 9

66 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Cn. IL
this prejudice and this apprehension are betrayed.
In these letters he laid far greater stress upon
other things than upon the fact that Mr. Travers
had not been ordained according to the form of the
English Church. He complained, with some em
phasis and Avarmth, that when he- himself was Master
of Trinity College, he was forced to punish Mr. Tra
vers unto weariness for " his intolerable stomach " ;
and that "there never was any under his govern
ment there in whom he found less submission and
humility than in him."1 To her Majesty he com
plained — and, considering her sensitiveness about
innovation, it was adroitly done — that "the said
Travers hath been and is one of the chief and prin
cipal authors of dissension in this Church; a con
temner of the Book of Prayers, and of other orders
by authority established ; an earnest seeker of in
novation,  whose placing in that room," — in
the Temple, — "especially by your Majesty, would
greatly animate the rest of the faction, and do very
much harm in sundry respects." 2
At first, the Archbishop was content with defeat
ing Mr. Travers's introduction to the Mastership,
fancying that he was a man of mean parts and
lightly esteemed by the Templars.3 But it would
seem that his lordship had discovered his mistake ;
that he had found that Mr. Travers's preaching was
not " so barren," but that it was -- for the most part
approved by Mr. Hooker himself in the midst of their
oppositions" ; that his popular talents, his "profitable
1 Strype's Whitgift, 174; Whit- 8 Strype's Whitgift, 174; Whit
gift to Burleigh. gift to Burleigh.
2 Hooker's Works, I. 31.

Ch. nj TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 67
matter," his " learning and honesty," his -- winning
behavior and blameless life," had earned him
weighty influence with "the generality of that
House."1 Upon the supposition of this discovery
only, can we account for the fact that, after Mr.
Travers had remained so long unmolested in his
Lectureship, it was suddenly resolved, on pretence
of an alleged defect long before notorious, that " no
favor must be afforded to him on any terms." He
had refused, it will be remembered, the condition
of a new ordination. Thus .only, can we understand
how it was suddenly discovered that he was " a dan
gerous person, a Cartwright junior, and that to
suffer such a man to continue Lecturer in the
Temple was but, in effect, to retain half the law
yers of England to be of counsel against the eccle
siastical government thereof.*'2 It should be kept
in mind, that no charge of non-conformity was
brought against Mr. Travers, no charge of having
depraved the Book of Common Prayer, and none of
having impugned the orders or the polity of the
Church. Had such charges been brought, — truly
or untruly, — his case could easily have been dis
posed of, and by due process of law. We think,
therefore, that it is Avith no light reason, considering
all the circumstances of the case, we find in Mr.
Travers's puritanical opinions, and in his high esteem
with the Templars, the true and only reasons for
his deposition from the ministry. That he had not
been ordered according to the forms of the English
Church, upon which the Archbishop laid the great-
1 Hooker's Works, 1. 50. Strype's * Fuller, Book IX. p. 218.
Whitgift, 174.

68 TRAVEKS AND HOOKER. [Cn. n
est stress,1 was laid hold of merely as a convenient
reason, having the air and force of filial deference
to the "Mother Church"; a plausible pretence for
silencing a man of popular abilities Avhose opinions
Avere offensive to the Prelacy. But even this posi
tion Avas thought to be assailable and insecure ; for
could it have been relied upon as impregnable, other
reasons Avould hardly have been put forward for
crippling a man whom the most zealous Churchmen
— with the exception of Archbishop Whitgift —
mention in terms of the highest respect.2
Mr. Travers's counsel to Mr. Hooker, that he
should not commence preaching in the Temple un
til "his coming to the place might be notified to
the congregation, that so their allowance might
seal his calling," and Lord Burleigh's opinion, that
" whoever came to the place without some allow
ance of the Company would soon weary there
of," proved true auguries. Although Mr. Hooker
had a great and growing reputation among the
" learned and Avise of the nation," and although
" the chief benchers in the Temple gave him much
reverence and encouragement," yet, partly because
of his slighting the suffrages of the society, which
created great displeasure and prejudice against
him,3 and partly because of his contest with Mr.
1 Strype's Whitgift, 251. Travers, uses strong language:
2 Izaak Walton, who is most " Perchance the reader will be
bitter and unjust in his representa- angry with me for saying so much,
tions of the Puritans of this reign, and I am almost angry with myself
does so (Hooker's AVorks, I. 50) in for saying no more, of so worthy a
language which I have already divine."
quoted. Collier does the same * Hooker's Works, II. 478; Hook-
(VII. 150). Fuller (Book IX. p. er's answer to Travers.
219), in closing his account of Mr.

Ch. IL] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 6°
Travers, Mr. Hooker -- there met with many neg
lects and oppositions, insomuch that it turned to his
extreme grief." These things suggested to him his
famous Avork on " Ecclesiastical Polity," which gained
him the appellation of "the judicious Hooker"; a
work which he projected while yet in the Temple.
But, " when he found that no fit place to finish
what he had there designed," and "became weary
of the noise and oppositions of the place," he
sought other preferment at the Archbishop's hand,
and obtained it. In the summer of 1591 he left
the Temple.1
In closing this chapter we take occasion to no
tice some errors which have crept into the different
accounts of these events in the Temple.
Mr. Marsden, we think, has erred in supposing
that Mr. Travers had been " permitted to advocate
in the Temple church" — in its pulpit, is the im
plication — "an entire change of structure and of
polity in the English branch of the Church catholic,
and to do this in contradiction of his superior co-
minister."2 Mr. Travers did, in private, take excep
tion to some ceremonials observed by Mr. Hooker;
and undoubtedly his private influence and teach
ings were for the more latitudinarian modes of
public Avorship for which the Presbyterian Puritans
contended. But we find no pulpit controversy be
tween the co-ministers, except on points of scholas
tic divinity. Besides, had Mr. Travers but once
advocated in the Temple church such a recon
struction of Church polity, he would have laid him
self open so flagrantly to prosecution under the
' Honker's Works, I. 62 - 64. ' " Early Puritans," 229.

•70 TRAVERS AND HOOKER. [Ch. H
statute, that the Archbishop Avould hardly have
gone all the way round by AntAverp for means
to bring him under censure. With this vieAv of
Mr. Travers's pulpit deportment, we cannot admit
Mr. Marsden's very important deduction, that this
was " an instance of dignified forbearance to which
few churches can afford a parallel."
But we turn attention to this very candid writer
for a more important reason. — to illustrate the
necessity of extreme caution accurately to notice
the times and order of events. He supposes that
the occurrences which we have narrated took place
in the year 1592, and that Mr. Travers had been
suffered in the Temple "during the long interval"
between the years 1578 and 15 92.1 Collier has
fallen into the same mistake, and from this false
premise has drawn an inference eAren more unfor
tunate than that of Mr. Marsden. He remarks,
that the " Commissioners signed an order for silencing
Travers in the Temple an*d elsewhere, because they
found the non-conformists pushing and troublesome,
and that the complaint was made against him at
a seasonable juncture, for now Cartwright, Snape, and
some other leading men of the Puritan persuasion
were brought before the High Commission."2 Yet
these men were not con\rented until eight years
after Mr. Travers had left the Temple, nor until
a year after Mr. Hooker had left it. So that there
was no such " seasonable juncture," and this was
not the reason why Mr. Travers Avas silenced. The
supposed cause came long after the supposed effect.
These mistakes are probably owing to Fuller, —
1 "Early Puritans," 226. 2 Collier, VIL 150.

Ch. n.] TRAVERS AND HOOKER. 7 I
upon whom writers sometimes rely too implicitly, —
who has unaccountably placed his narrative of this
affair under date of the year 1591.
Mr. Strype places the time of these occurrences
in the years 1584, 1585, and 1586 ;x and demon
strates the precise time of Mr. Travers's suspension
by a letter of his dated the twenty-seventh day
of March, 1586, in which he complains of "his call
ing having been taken away from him."2
1 Strype's Whitgift, 173 - 176, 235 » Ibid., 250

CHAPTER IIT.

BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY.
Walsingham's extensive Espionage. — Factions among the Romanists.
— Plot of Savage, Hodgeson, and Gifford. — " Father Persons's
Green Coat," ob "Leicester's Commonwealth." — The Priest Bal.
lard and maud the spy. — henry iii., upon comtlaint of eliza
BETH, commits Thomas Morgan to the Bastile. — The Pkif.st Fo
ley and Morgan in Paris. — Poley in the Family of Sir Philip
Sidney. — Walsixgiiam's Inspection of Letters in Cipher. — His sub
tle Connection with the Agents of the Queen of Scots — Heb
foreign Correspondence. — Walsingham's Plan to secure it. — Tub
Conspiracy in Paris. — Anthony Babington — His romantic Enthu
siasm for the Queen of Scots. — He is drawn into the Conspiracy.
— He modifies the Plan of Procedure, and secures new Associates.
— Queen Mary's Correspondence with Babington. — Plot and Coun
terplot. — The Conspiracy revealed to Queen Elizabeth. — Ballard
arrested. — The Conspirators alarmed, but quieted by AValsingham.
— The Conspiracy revealed to the Privy Council. — The Flight of
the Conspirators. — The Alarm of the People. — The Hue and Cry.
— The Arrests. — The enthusiastic Joy of the People. — It is ac
knowledged by the Queen. — Gifford's Flight and Fate. — AVal
singham charged with Forgery of Letters. — His Course justifi
able. — The Trial of the Conspirators. — Chidiock Titchbocene in
Prison. — The Executions. 1586.
Among all her statesmen, Queen Elizabeth had
no servant more devoted, vigilant, and laborious
for her protection than her Secretary Walsing
iiam, Well knowing the varied plans which her
enemies had devised against her government and
life from the very day of her accession to the
throne ; aware, too, that they had neither slackened
their zeal nor bated aught of their machinations.

Ch. in.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 73
and that all their movements were subtle and
stealthy, from the outset of his administration he
had maintained his disguised agents or spies wher
ever his sovereign had enemies, — in the Catholic
districts at home, about the person of the Queen
of Scots, at the various seminaries of Missionary
priests, and among the very " confidants of the
Pope at Rome."1 This system of espionage was a
matter of necessity ; the only means of forestalling
and counteracting the many secret plots against
the Church and sovereign of England. To main
tain it at home and abroad, the Secretary spared
not time or labor or money. Nor did he scruple
to employ any agent, however mercenary or how
ever unprincipled, whom he could make his tool to
subserve to the safety of the state. In this, under
the circumstances, he Avas justifiable. It is also
a singular and noticeable fact, that, while all Queen
Elizabeth's perils had a Catholic origin, Walsing
ham's most effective spies were of the Catholic
priesthood ; so that " he used always to say, that
an active but vicious priest was the best spy in
the world."2 Perhaps we can account for this in
part. But before proceeding to do so, Ave remark,
parenthetically, that Queen Mary herself seems to
have been of the same mind with Walsingiiam
when she wrote, "Take heed of spies and false
brethren among you, especially of some priests al
ready practised upon by your enemies for your
discovery." 8
1 Nares, III. 268. Ante, Vol. H. * Hargrave's State Trials, 151 ;
44, note ; 202. Mary's letter of instructions to
• Nares, III. 267, 268. Babington, July 12th, 1586.
VOL. III. 10

74 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. ID.
At this particular time, Walsingham probably
had peculiar facilities for operating through this
class of agents; for divisions and jealousies had
sprung up among the Catholics themselves.1 The
Jesuits, by their missionary operations and by their
publication of politico-religious tracts, — each of
AA-hich. measures had operated to the prejudice and
discomfort of the Catholics in England, — had ren
dered themselves obnoxious to a large number of
the Romish faith. Thus the English refugees par
ticularly "had become split into factions."2 Many
of these, Avho Avere scholars in the English College
at Rome, had thrown off the tutelage of the Jesuits
for that of the Dominicans.3 These dissensions
among the English papists were still further in
creased by another fact. The Jesuits, despairing of
the liberation of the Queen of Scots, despairing also
of the conversion of her son to the Romish faith,
— of Avhich i until of late, they had had " assured
hope," — had begun to put forward a pretended
title of the King of Spain to the English Crown;
to advance Avliich they devoted themselves and ex
horted their English pupils.5 On the other hand,
their opponents, still hoping for Mary's liberation
and for James's conversion,6 labored unremittingly
in behalf of the captive queen. In their jealousy
of the Jesuits, and in their attachment to the
Queen of Scots, this party had the sympathy of
the new Pope, — Sixtus Quintus,7 — "Avho hated
1 Murdin, 486, 513; Morgan to * Murdin, 419, 542.
the Queen of Scots. ' Camden, 331. Fuller, Book
' Lingard, VIII. 212. IX. p. 180.
•Murdin, 523; Morgan to the ° Murdin, 462, 4G5, 508, 525, 542.
Queen of Scots. ' Ibid., 473, 497, 523.

Ch. IU.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 75
Philip of Spain and admired the character of Eliza
beth, although afterwards he excommunicated her
afresh, in order, for form's sake, to appear to sanc
tion Philip's attack upon the dominions of a here
tic."1 Again, some of the English refugees, weary
of their expatriation and suffering under poverty,
were willing .to lend themselves to the service of
Queen Elizabeth, — or at least to entertain her
offers of pardon and estate ; 2 and some of them —
priests — had lately entered into secret correspond
ence with Walsingham himself.3
With these preliminary observations, we proceed
to trace the details of another conspiracy; for, like
all the Catholic movements (Avhich we have noted
heretofore) against the government and person of
Elizabeth, it has its relations to the character and
conduct of the Puritans. This we shall endeavor
to illustrate hereafter.
Among the soldiers of fortune who served in the
Netherlands under the Prince of Parma, general
of the forces of Philip of Spain, was one John
Savage, an Englishman. Quitting the camp of the
prince, he strolled into France ; and about the first
of August, 1585, came to the ancient city of
Rheims,4 whither the English Seminary for mission
ary priests had been transferred from Douay ten
years before.6 As he was reciting his military ad
ventures and boasting of his exploits in conversa
tion with Hodgeson, a priest,6 it chanced that he
Was overheard by William Gifford,7 a doctor of di-
1 Nares, III. 269. ' Ante, Vol. I. 347.
* Murdin, 509. ' Camden, 336.
* Ibid., 511. ' Hargrave, I. 129.
? Hargrave, 1. 129, bis. Lingard, VLU. 218.

76 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. ]Cn. DT.
vinity, a priest, and of a good English family,1 Avho
immediately suggested that the exploits in Avhich
the soldier gloried were but trifles compared with
one which he might perform, — the murder of that
pestilent arch-heretic, the Queen of England ; a
deed which Avould Avreathe the doer Avith perpetual
glory, and make sure his admission to heaven.
The adventurer objecting only to the danger and
difficulty of the task, Dr. Gifford, thinking that per
haps he might have scruples about assassinating
a prince, urged that in this case such a deed was
necessary for the good of the Church, and "would
be just and meritorious"; and at the same time
advised Savage to take ghostly counsel upon the
point. In the Seminary at Rheims there were those
who held that the bull of excommunication uttered
by the Pope Pius V. against Queen Elizabeth had
been dictated by the Holy Ghost; and "that it
was a meritorious act to kill such princes as were
excommunicate ; yea, that they were martyrs who
lost their lives upon that account." 2 These doc
trines were noAv diligently pressed upon Savage by
the priest Hodgeson, by Gilbert Gifford, another
priest, apparently a near kinsman of Dr. Gifford, *
and by " others " at Rheims.3 After three weeks
of instruction, the result was, that Savage informed
Dr. Gifford — whom he had not met in the mean
time, but who probably Avas privy to his instruc
tions — that "he was willing to do anything for the

' Murdin, 512; Morgan to the 2 Camden, 336. Carte, ni. 600.
Queen of Scots. Camden, 336. » Hargrave, 1. 129. Camden, 336.

Ch. III.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 77
good of his country"; and soon after, convinced
by their sophistical persuasions, he pledged him
self upon oath to murder Queen Elizabeth. Upon
which Dr. Gifford entered into large discourse, show
ing the devotee various methods by which he
might fulfil his vow. Soon after, Savage came into
England to execute his murderous purpose, AA-hich
now included the Earl of Leicester,1 and afterwards,
the Lord Burleigh.2
About the same time, to lull the apprehensions and
vigilance of Elizabeth's ministers, some of Mary's
partisans issued a book in which they urged the
Papists of England to carry on no hostility against
the queen except by tears, reasonings, prayers,
watchings, and fastings.8
But there were other agencies elsewhere, flowing
in another direction toward a common goal, and
which were destined soon to form a confluence.
The solemn bond of association devised by the
Earl of Leicester had greatly alarmed the friends
of the Queen of Scots. A book had lately ap
peared in which the Earl had been most mercilessly
defamed,4 and to which he believed her to have
been privy. Her friends believed the bond to
1 Hargrave, I. 129, 131. Its original title was, "A Dialogue
2 Wright, II. 814 ; Burleigh to between a Gentleman, a Scholar,
Leicester. Hargrave, I. 136. _ and a Lawyer." It contained every-
8 Hargrave, 1. 136. Camden,337. thing which could be raked together,
These statements of the transae- whether true or false, concerning
tions at Rheims aro taken from the private vices and crimes of the
Savage's own confession, as recorded Earl of Leicester ; " notoriously
in Hargrave's State Trials, I. 129. scandalous and hateful matter
* The book hero referred to was against her Majesty's right trusty
first printed on the Continent, in and right well beloved cousin," said
the year 1584, and was circulated the Council in a letter (June 20th,
in England by the English Jesuits. 1585) to certain justices and other

78

BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY.

[Cn. Ill

have been devised by his lordship purely to re
venge himself upon her, by procuring her death
for her complicity in this libel.1 They were there
fore stirred to make a new effort for her libera
tion ; not by force, which they well knew would be
at fearful hazard, but by artifice.2 For this pur
pose one Albane Doleman, a priest who had such
ghostly influence " in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and
about Tutbury," where Mary was confined, as to
give some hope of success, was sent over from
France in January, 1584-5, and recommended to
Mary's confidence.3 But the plan, which was for
her escape in disguise, was never attempted. It
was too evidently impossible, guarded and watched
as Queen Mary was. Other plans were then pro
jected.

magistrates. The book itself, though
doubtless containing much terrible
truth, is so purely malicious and
reckless that it cannot be relied
upon as historic authority. At its
first appearance it was popularly
called " Father Persons's Green
Coat " ; its outside leaves being of
that color and Persons being its
putative author. It was again
printed in the year 1631, with the
running-title, " A Letter of State
of a Scholar of Cambridge." In
the year 1641 it was twice printed,
with the title " Leicester's Common
wealth " ; by which name it is most
generally known. Another edition
of it appeared in the year 1706,
entitled " Tho Picture of a Favorite;
or Secret Memoirs of Robert Dud
ley, Earl of Leicester." (Sidney,
State Papers, I. 61, 62. Wood's
Athens Oxon. ; Article " Robert

Persons." Peek's Desiderata Cu
riosa, I. Book IV. No. LVI.) Sir
Philip Sidney undertook an answer
to the book, (see Sidney, State
Papers, I. 62 - 68,) but it was little
more than a fluent, rhetorical paper,
in which railing is rendered back
for railing. Not a single charge
was plausibly refuted, fairly met, or
even denied, except the general
defamation of the family of the
Dudleys. This Sir Philip denied,
by saying, " Thou liest in thy throat."
It is a very suspicious fact against
Leicester, and in support of the book
itself, that the Earl's own kinsman
could frame no better reply.
1 Charles Paget to the Queen of
Scots; Murdin, 436, 437. Thomas
Morgan to the same ; Murdin, 456.
5 Murdin, 437; Charles Paget to
the Queen of Scots.
8 Murdin, 437, 438, 457.

Ch. m.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 79
Soon after Doleman's venture into England, an
other character appeared upon the stage. In the
summer of the same year, the attention of some
people was attracted to a stranger, in military
dress, who moved from place to place as the guest
of certain known Catholics.1 He went about in a
gray cloak glittering with gold lace, velvet hose,
a cut satin doublet, and wearing a hat adorned
with silver buttons, after the newest fashion. This
officer-like gentleman was attended by two servants,
— a man and a boy, — by whom he Avas ahvays
addressed as Captain Fortescue.2 Before long, he
became pleasantly acquainted with one Maud, who
chanced in his way ; a man of insinuating man
ners, who gained his confidence as a professed
friend of the Scottish queen and a zealous Catho
lic. To this man Fortescue soon revealed himself,
avowing that he was a priest from the Seminary
at Rheims ; that he was sounding the Avay prepar
atory for an invasion of England, for the purpose
of a reA-olution which should place Mary on the
throne ; and that the immediate burden of his
mission was to arouse the Papists of England and
Scotland. Maud received this confidence joyfully and grate
fully, expressed his devout hope that God had
not yet given over the kingdom to heresy, and
offered himself as a co-AVorker in so holy an enter
prise. The offer was accepted ; and thus John
Ballard, the priest, was joined in his seditious
enterprise by one of the most crafty dissemblers in
1 Lingard, VIII. 217. and Elizabeth," p. 632, note 25,
2 Turner's " Edward VI, Mary London edit,, 1829.

80 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Cn. III.
the whole corps of Walsingham's detective agents;
by a man Avho clave to him, unsuspected, as a
bosom friend, counsellor, and confidant, through the
north of England, a part of Scotland, and thence
through Flanders to Paris.1
One of the apartments of the Bastile — that terri
ble prison of state Avhose silent history of woe ac
cumulated fearfully until its destruction in the
year 1789 — Avas occupied at this time by Thomas
Morgan, a Welshman. This man had left the Uni
versity of Oxford Avithout taking his degree, had
entered the service of the Queen of Scots, and had
become one of her Secretaries. He was most loyally
devoted to her, had gained her confidence, and had
been sent to Paris as her agent, to receive the
income of her dowry there as Queen Dowager of
France.2 When Parry was in the course of exami
nation for his plot to murder Queen Elizabeth, he
had implicated Thomas Morgan as one of his abet
tors;3 upon AA'hich the queen had made a request
to Henry III. of France, that he might be sent to
England as a prisoner.4 But Morgan was beloved,
trusted, and protected at that Court ; ° and the king,
unwilling to surrender to a vindictive sovereign such
a man, and one who was a devoted servant of the
unfortunate Mary, yet equally unwilling to offend
Elizabeth, with the greatest reluctance 6 committed
him to the Bastile, providing money for his suste
nance, and giving orders to the captain of the prison
1 Lingard, VHI. 217, 218. Cam- 'Murdin, 440.
den, 337. Rapin, II. 124. 6 Strype's Annals, VI. 338.
2 Murdin, 439, note. • Murdin, 471.
" Hargrave, I. 123.

Ch. HI.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 81
for his good treatment.1 But Henry, declaring to
him expressly, through a gentleman of his Court,
that he would be no officer of Elizabeth,2 refused
to send him to England.3
Early in July,4 about the time when Maud had
stricken hands with Ballard, another actor appeared
in this complicated drama. This was Robert Poley,
apparently another priest, who had been suspected
this same year as a mass-monger in England,5 Avho
arrived in Paris as a special messenger, bearing
letters to Morgan from Christopher Blount, a gen
tleman retainer of the Earl of Leicester, and a
Catholic.6 He refused to deliver his letters to any
of Morgan's friends .with whom he became ac
quainted, and insisted that he would yield them
to none but to Morgan himself. After a fortnight's
delay, he found means to converse with the prisoner
through a window of his chamber, and there con
sented to deposit his papers in the hands of one
whom Morgan designated. The letters contained
the warmest declarations from Blount of attachment
to the captive queen, avowing that " he was bound
to serve and honor her, the only saint whom he
knew to be living in England " ; declaring that " he
had labored in her service, and would labor though
it cost him his life " ; and requesting Morgan, as her
confidential servant, to send him instructions how
he might promote her better service. The letters,
which also contained "ample instructions of the
state of England," Morgan immediately imparted
1 Murdin, 483. * Ibid., 447.
« Ibid. ° Strype's Whitgift, 248.
• Ibid., 444, 482, 483. * Murdin, 448, 449.
VOL. III. 11

82 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. ]Ch. HI.
to the Bishop of Glasgow, Mary's ambassador at
the Court of France, to Mendoza, the Spanish ambas
sador there, and to Charles Paget, an English refugee
devoted to Mary. Aftenvards, Morgan managed —
apparently by bribery — to effect a secret interview
with Poley, Avho " seemed marvellously pleased
therewith," and who made many inquiries about
the Welshman's private papers, which had been
seized and forwarded to Queen Elizabeth at the
time of his arrest. He also expressed a strong
desire for " some happy and speedy reformation in
England." He was then sent back to Blount " well
contented," l without letters, but with a promise of
writing soon, and with thirty gold pistoles added to his
purse.2 We next find that, by Morgan's counsel and
by Blount's means, this man was attached to the house
hold of Sir Philip Sidney, specially in the service of
his wife, who, it should be particularly noticed, was
a daughter of Sir Francis Wolsingham. Morgan sought
this situation for him, " that he might be able to
pick out many things for the information of Queen
Mary." 3 Blount's object is open to conjecture. It is
doubtful whether he was acting for the interests of
the Scottish queen, or playing against her into the
hands of Leicester and Walsingham. Morgan, how
ever, although very jealous of all persons dependent
upon the Earl,4 had yet, from an acquaintance of
years, acquired strong confidence in the " faith and
honesty" of Blount; had become "sure that he
did honor the ground on which Queen Mary might
1 Murdin, 447, 448; Morgan to 3 Murdin, 480, 499, 506.
the Queen of Scots. * Ibid., 448.
2 Ibid., 451, 453.

Ch. HI.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 83
tread, before Leicester and all his generation." ]
Poley held friendly intercourse with the French am
bassador at the English Court and with his secre
tary,2 as a medium of communication between Mary
and her friends in France, and was otherwise engaged
in serving her with intelligence.3 Thus another
priest (as we have some reason to suppose him) was
insinuating himself into the confidence and secret
counsels of the Marian zealots, edging on their oper
ations, and receiving their money, yet moving in the
circle of Walsingham's family, in reality his agent,
and keeping him informed of all their movements.4
Thus was the wily and watchful Secretary winding
his toils around the plotting enemies of his sover
eign. Walsingham had two servants whom he employed
in the most delicate and important business of exam
ining letters from suspicious quarters. Such letters,
when intercepted, if written in cipher, were com
mitted to the inspection of Thomas Phillips, Avho
had a wonderful skill at deciphering. They were
then perfectly resealed by Arthur Gregory, so that
no one could detect their violation, and forwarded
to their address. Thus, through these men, Walsing
ham made himself master of many secrets which
concerned the weal of the state.
Here let us note upon the threshold two facts as
preparatory indices of the complicated and twofold
plot we are to investigate. Doctor Gifford, — whom
we have mentioned as the artful instigator of Sav-
1 Murdin, 480, 499, 506. * Camden, 339. Lingard VIH.
2 Ibid., 480, 499. 214.
* Ibid., 506.

S4 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. HI,
age to the murder of Queen Elizabeth, — in the
month of March preceding their interview,1 had been
recommended to Queen Mary by a special letter
from her confidential agent in Paris — Morgan — as
her " zealous beadman and servant," who would
willingly " adventure his life " for her relief. At
that very time he was " one of some priests abroad
in banishment who had entered into conference, by
writing, Avith Secretary Walsingham." 2 Another
item : Avithin two months after the parley with Sav
age, Gilbert Gifford visited the same confidential
friend of Mary in Paris, and obtained letters from
him to her assuring her of his "faith and honesty,
he being about to go into England." He also re
ceived instructions how to convey her letters to her
correspondents in France,3 and within five months
from his first acquaintance with Savage was an
inmate of the family of Walsingham's most trusted
servant in London.4 " He was of a licentious and
scandalous life," though yet so young that he had
but a sprouting beard. In his deportment he was
unaffected, and he Avas fluent in several languages
of the Continent.5 Thus he answered well to Wal
singham's idea of " the best spy in the world."
The Giffords were a good family in Staffordshire,
and of good estate. One of them was now a pris
oner in London as a Catholic recusant. Another
was living within ten miles of the captive Mary.
A third was one of the band of Queen Elizabeth's
1 Murdin, 440 and 512 compared. * Lingard, Vni. 214.
2 Ibid., 511, 512 ; Morgan to the 6 Carte, III. 601. Lingard, VHL
Queen of Scots. 215, 228. Camden, 344.
3 Murdin, 454, 455 ; Morgan to
Mary, Oct. 15th, 1585.

Ch. 111.]

BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY.

85

gentlemen pensioners, for many Catholic gentlemen
had entered the service of Elizabeth's Court and of
her courtiers, that they might thus be protected
from prosecution on account of recusancy.1 This
family were akin to Francis and Thomas Throg-
morton.2 It was under the roof of the decipherer Phillips 8
that Gilbert Gifford found a home in December,
1585,4 when he came to England with commenda
tory letters to the Queen of Scots, and also charged
with the perilous business of facilitating her corre
spondence, a business which he concluded to prose
cute without peril. In less than a month after his
arrival6 he revealed himself and his errand to Wal-
singham at a private interview, offered his services,
and promised to lay before him all letters from

1 Murdin, 448, 449, 480 ; Morgan
to the Queen of Scots.
' Ibid., 454. Camden, 337.
8 Morgan knew this Phillips. But
he had deported himself towards
the Welshman with so much art —
hoping, doubtless,' to penetrate his
secrets — that the latter was duped
to believe him a venal man, and
had tried to win him to the Queen
of Scots. Phillips met these over
tures with smiles and with profes
sions of friendship for Mary. Mor
gan had such hopos of his political
conversion — although Phillips was
a Puritan — that he had commend
ed him to Mary as a man not yet to
be trusted indeed, but as one who
might be bought, and who was worth
the buying. (Murdin, 455.)
* Lingard, VIII. 214.
* Lingard says, that Gifford went
upon the excursion mentioned be

low immediately upon Mary's re
moval from Tutbury to Chartley,
which took place on the twenty-
fourth day of December. Camden
adds, that he was sent by Walsing-
ham. Of course he had sold him
self to the Secretary in " less than
a month after his arrival." Prob
ably he had done so before he was
quartered with Phillips, and as soon
as he came to London. It is my own
opinion that he came for this very
purpose ; and that he had formed
it when he obtained his credentials
and his charge from Morgan. It also
seems probable, and almost certain,
that at this time he communicated
to Walsingham the murderous mis
sion of Savage. The facts stated
in the text show clearly enough
why Queen Mary's residence was
changed at this particular time.

86 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. Ill
abroad which might be sent to him in charge. His
revelations and offers were well received by the Sec
retary, who sent him and Phillips to the neighbor-
h6od of Chartley in Staffordshire, whither Queen
Mary had just been removed, to put in train such
agencies as would induce her to correspond fear
lessly with her partisans abroad. Walsingham had
reasons for doing this. Maud had discovered that
there was some movement for invasion, and the
correspondence which Walsingham proposed to de
tect would doubtless reveal matters of the highest
moment. Thus another confidant of Mary's friends,
another priest, was pledged to the service of Wal
singham.1 Phillips and Gifford soon arranged a stealthy
mode of conveying letters to Mary and of receiving
hers in return ; an arrangement effected through
the connivance of Sir Amyas Paulet, her keeper,
at the request of Walsingham.2 Gifford now applied
to the French ambassador (it was about the 23d
or the 24th day of January, 1585-6), and received
letters for Mary, one of which was from Morgan,
and was the first which had found its way to her
from him since December, 1584.3 She received
them with joy on the 26th day of the month, and
replied to Morgan's letter on the next day,4 un
suspicious of the mode of their conveyance, and not
1 In the correspondence between New York, 1859) ; and Mary her-
Queen Mary and Morgan, the name self suggested it in a letter to
Pietro is of frequent occurrence. Morgan, dated 20th of May, 1586.
(Murdin, 519-534, passim.) This (Murdin, 515.)
was doubtless the name by which 2 Camden, 341.
they designated Gilbert Gifford 8 Murdin, 469, 515; the Queen
(Lingard, VIII. 216 ; Strickland's of Scots to Morgan.
" Queens of Scotland," VII. 359, * Ibid., 469.

Ch. HI.]

BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY.

87

detecting the violation of their seals.1 Thus with
a joyous heart she became entangled in proceed
ings whose cost to her was her life.2 To conceal
his connection with Walsingham, Gifford employed
one of his Throckmorton kinsmen as the carrier
of the letters to and from the office of the Secre
tary.3 Thus the machinery was complete and in
operation by which to ferret out the plans and
identify the persons of the conspirators.
In the month of April, 1586,4 another act of this
tragic drama was in progress in Paris. The priest
Ballard was there,6 with his precious companion
Maud. The priest Gifford was there,6 Avith his art-

1 Lingard, VTH. 216.
' Mary's answer to Morgan's
letter was dated " January the
17th, conforme to the ancient com
putation " ; Camden says that " the
fugitives, to make trial whether
Gifford would be faithful in tlie
safe conveying of their letters,
sent at first blank papers made
up like letters ; which when
they found by the answers " —
answers to mere blanks f — "to
have been delivered, they grew
more confident of him, and sent
frequently other letters written in
ciphers concerning their business."
(p. 131.) I reject this for the follow
ing reasons. 1. Because Morgan,
her principal correspondent abroad,
and the original employer of Gifford,
had from the first implicit confidence
in him. 2. Because Mary, in her
answer to Morgan, says, " I thank
you heartily for this bringer," —
Gifford, — " whom I perceive very
willing to acquit himself of his
promise made to you." But she

makes no mention of things so
strange as blank letters. It is ut
terly improbable that shewould have
been silent about them, and to him,
had such come to hand ; and if she
did receive such and was silent
about them, how came it known
that they had " been delivered " ?
8. This instalment of letters must
have been the first which Mary re
ceived through Gifford's agency.
Hume (III. 141) assigns this test of
blank letters, not to Mary's friends
abroad, — as Camden does, — but
to Ballard and Babington in Eng
land ; and not to the time when
Gifford commenced his operations,
but to midsummer of 1586, after he
had conveyed correspondence faith
fully six months or more.
3 Murdin, 519. Lingard, VIH.
216. 4 Hargrave's State Trials, 180,
138. ' Murdin, 517,527.
8 Ibid., 520.

88 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. III.
less artfulness and bis smooth speech, sent there
by his new master. Charles Paget and Thomas
Morgan were there, — the latter still in his prison.
Three earnest partisans of the captive queen, three
resolute zealots of the Romish faith, in close and
confiding consultation Avith two aatio were solely
bent upon probing and betraying their projects.
Ballard, upon his arrival, had " met with one
Grateley." This man had introduced him to Charles
Paget, who told him that the Pope was bent upon
" reforming the state in England," and that Men-
doza, the Spanish ambassador at the Court of
France, had given assurance that Spain would aid
the project by force of arms.1 This coincided pre
cisely with Ballard's recent errand, and he disclosed
it to Paget, telling him that he had just felt the
Catholic pulse in England and in Scotland ; that it
was strong and true, that foreign aid alone was
wanting to insure a formidable insurrection, and
that he had been sent to Paris to make this
known. Paget distrusted the scheme, but intro
duced the martial priest to Mendoza. The am
bassador received and "heard him very well." Bal
lard told of noblemen and knights in divers shires
of England who "were willing to take arms so as
they might be assured of foreign help " ; many
of whom, upon this condition, had taken oath upon
the sacrament to do so. He stated also what forces
they could raise, but refused to disclose their names,
because " his priesthood was engaged to the con
trary." It was further argued, that the present
time was auspicious, because the best soldiers of
1 Hargrave, I. 132.

Ch. IH] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 89
England were in the Low Countries with the Earl
of Leicester.
" Return," said Mendoza, " and procure me satis
faction from some of the wisest and principallest
in England, that they will so conjoin, and what
forces they will raise, and my king will furnish
relief, and that right speedy. But see to it, that
the safety of the Queen of Scots be made sure,
and that she be rescued from her jailer if possi
ble. Satisfy me reasonably upon these points, and
aid shall be given ; not direct from Spain, whence
she of England looketh it may come, but from
the Prince of Parma, whom she does not appre
hend, and who can move thither before she is
aware." 1
Ballard, Paget, Gifford, Maud, and probably the
prisoner Morgan (for at this time he certainly had
much conference with Gifford),2 now consulted to
gether. Paget urged strenuously that such were
the prudence, watchfulness, and vigor of Elizabeth's
government, and such the general affection of the
people for her person, that there was no hope of
effecting a revolution, even by invasion, so long as
she was living.8 The oath of Savage for the mur
der of Elizabeth, and his presence then in Eng
land for that purpose, were next discussed. Finally,
it was resolved that Ballard should return to Eng
land to satisfy the demands of Mendoza, to inform
the Catholics that Philip "had vowed upon his
soul to reform England or to lose Spain," to pre-
1 Murdin, 524, 527. Ibid., 517, • Murdin, 521.
518; Charles Paget to the Queen 8 Camden, 337. Hume, HI. 189.
of Scots. Camden, 837. Hargrave,
L 1S5. Lingard, VIII. 218.
VOL. iu. 12

90 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. HI
pare the way for insurrection and for effecting a
landing of forces, and specially to insure the safety
of the Scottish queen in the confusion. All this
he pledged himself by oath to do.1 It was also
arranged that Anthony Babington, a young gentle
man of Dethick in Derbyshire, should be incited
to take in charge Queen Mary's escape from prison;
and that Savage should be hurried to his work.2
Here the congress ended. Ballard received money
from Paget;3 Gifford also, from Morgan, besides
" an assurance of a Prebend in St. Quentin's " which
was in the gift of the Queen of Scots.4 Maud and
Gifford returned with a rich freight of information
to be laid at Walsingham's feet.
Anthony Babington was a young gentleman of
good family5 and ample fortune, of literary accom
plishments rare for one of his years, of pleasing
countenance, graceful form, and courtly manners.6
In the year 1585 he had visited Paris, and being a
zealous Catholic had naturally fallen into association
with the English refugees there who were of the
same faith, particularly with Charles Paget and
Thomas Morgan. Through them he was also re
ceived in a free-and-easy way by the Bishop of
Glasgow, Mary's ambassador at court. In this so
ciety his susceptible nature had been easily kindled '
to romantic enthusiasm towards the sad captive of
so many years, whose restoration to queenly state
was the one great object which filled their minds,
controlled their time, and shaped their daily pur-
1 Holingshed, IV. 923. Hargrave, 8 Murdin, 518.
I. 132. Camden, 337. Lingard, 4 Ibid., 521.
VIH. 218. " Ibid., 513.
2 Lingard, VHL 218. • Camden, 337. Hume, HI. 139.

Ch. IH.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 91
suits. While they discoursed perpetually and with
glowing lips of her checkered history, her unfailing
heroism, her virtues, her accomplishments, and her
hard captivity, he listened as any youth of a gen
erous and manly heart would listen to a tale so
touching and so told. He caught their inspiration,
with chivalrous devotion pledged himself to her
service, and returned to England all aglow with the
noble purpose of soothing a woman's grief, and of
befriending, at any risk, a wronged and crownless
queen.1 By his hand Morgan and Paget sent letters
to Queen Mary, dated July 26th and 27th, com
mending him to her as one who had the means and
the will to do her good service, and who had prom
ised all fidelity.2
Upon his return, some " intelligence was settled "
between him and Mary for a short time ; but then,
having remained near her " to receive her command
ments for a long time, but hearing nothing," he had
forborne to write to her, although still "always
ready for her service."8 The suspension of their
correspondence wrought his great depression of
mind. The charm of romance with which her
cause had been invested faded and faded until it
was gone, — until the truth of her condition stood
before him harsh and hopeless. He " held the hope
of his country's weal depending upon her to be des
perate," and was upon the eve of quitting the realm
forever.4

1 Camden, 337. Hume, HI. 139. 'Hargrave, I. 149; Babington
* Murdin, 453. to the Queen of Scots.
8 Murdin, 513 ; Morgan to Queen
Mary, May 9th, 1586.

92 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Cn. IU'.
At no time is one so Aveak against temptation, and
so unshielded, as Avhen the gay, dancing visions of
youth suddenly melt aAvay, and the stern realities
of life stand forth in their stead. If the reaction is
to such an extreme that buoyant and inspiring hope
gives Avay to despair, such is the tempter's golden
opportunity, and woe to him in such a case to Avhom
the tempter comes ! Such Avas now the critical con
dition of young Babington. His new vieAvs of the
cause which he had espoused Avith the most san
guine expectations, and Avith entire abandonment of
self, Avere healthy because true. But, in the bitter
ness of his disappointment, he became sick of the
world as he found it, and in a sort of frenzy resolved
to seek some solitary place, there to live only to die.1
At this very crisis the tempter appeared, clad in the
raiment of religion, with the smooth speech, the
bewildering sophistry, and the profuse promises of
a trained and crafty Jesuit. That " silken priest in
soldier's habit, commonly called by the borroAved
name of Captain Fortescue," 2 had been in search
of him four or five days, and now came with his
bland manners and specious words to weave his toils
around him.
Ballard had arrived in London on the 22d day
of May,3 and after a brief interview with Chasteau-
neuf, the French ambassador, who warned him
that his coming to his residence would subject him
to suspicion,4 he had immediately applied himself
to find the young man who had been nominated
1 Hargrave, I. 149 ; Babington to 3 Hardwicke State Papers, I.
Queen Mary. 226. Turner, 632, note 25.
4 Cimden, 337. 4 Strype's Annals, V. 605.

Ch. III.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 93
at Paris as a fit partner in his enterprise. It was the
twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh day of the month on
which they met, — the villanous, oily priest to cor
rupt and damn the generous-hearted, inexperienced,
susceptible youth. Ballard unfolded in detail the
late consultation at Paris, the encouragement given
by Mendoza, and the whole plan and fair promises
of the projected invasion, sustained by a force of
sixty thousand men.1 Babington at once pro
nounced the plan absurd, the promise dreamy ;
declaring, as Paget had done, that while Queen
Elizabeth was living, any attempt to overturn her
government must be abortive, guarded as that gov
ernment was by alert and unmatched statesmen,
and founded as it was in the affections of the people.
This the priest candidly admitted ; but added that
Elizabeth's days were already numbered, for a bold
and practised soldier was at hand, sworn for the
sake of God and the Church to take the life of the
usurping heretic. The young man's eye was filled
with the image of the outcast queen, and his heart
beat as high for the religion of his fathers as for her.
In this fevered state, after some speech from the
Jesuit, treason came to be counted loyalty ; murder,
the service of God ; the staking of his own life, a
pious duty ; and the loss of it, yet in its freshness,
the earnest of a martyr's crown. Assured that Sav
age was fully committed to the murder, and that the
Prince of Parma would at the same time produce a
powerful force, his prudential objections vanished.
He yielded to his seducer. Once more he flung
himself upon the stream of a terrible fate. He
1 Holingshed, IV. 914.

94 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. III.
objected only that the death of Elizabeth, upon
which the whole venture hinged, must be made
sure ; that it could not be so if intrusted to a sin
gle arm. He therefore insisted that five others
should be joined with Savage in his desperate ser
vice.1 On the thirty-first day of May2 Savage received
letters from Doctor Gifford, Gilbert Gifford, and Mor
gan, assuring him that affairs were propitious for the
fulfilment of his vow.3 Soon after this he was intro
duced by Ballard to Babington, whom he had never
met, and when made acquainted with his plan for
associates, stoutly -protested against it, because of
his oath, which bound himself to kill the queen.
With much difficulty he was persuaded to yield.4
Babington then proceeded with his preparations.
Those to whom the murder of the queen was ap
pointed were Savage ; Barnewell, of a noble family
in Ireland ; John Channock, a gentleman of Lanca
shire ; Edward Abington, whose father had been
under-treasurer of the queen's household, — all of
whom entered readily into the plan, — Charles Til-
ney, of an ancient family and one of the Queen's
gentlemen-pensioners ; and Chidiock Titchbourne, an
intimate friend of Babington, and of a family whose
honor had been sustained without a blot from before
the reign of William the Conqueror. These two
young men shrunk from the crime proposed, and
refused. But, by much talk about excommunicated
princes, and about the interests of the Catholic re-
1 Holingshed, IV. 923, 924. Cam- 2 Hargrave, I. 129.
den, 338. Lingard, VIII. 219. 3 Strype's Annals, V. 606.
Hume III. 140. Hargrave, I. 132. * Hargrave, I. 129, 132.
Rapin, H. 124.

Ch. HI] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 95
ligion, they were persuaded to give "a kind of
consent."1 These arrangements made, Ballard pro
ceeded to the northern counties to prepare the Cath
olics for the crisis which was at hand.2
Babington, who from this time seems to have
been the director of affairs, now employed himself
in arranging for the rescue of Mary's person at
the very moment when Savage and his band should
strike down Elizabeth. For this purpose he en
gaged Edward Windsore, brother to the Lord Wind-
sore ; Thomas Salisbury, "of a knightly family'';
Robert Gage ; John Travers ; Edward Jones, AA-hose
father had been keeper of the wardrobe to Queen
Mary ; and Henry Dunn, Clerk in the office of
first-fruits and tenths.3 There were four others
whom he also engaged in the same enterprise ;
one of whom was the sanctified spy, Robert Foley ^
Since -- the discontinuance begonne " between
Queen Mary and Babington, which had been caused
by the extreme vigilance of Sir Amyas Paulet her
keeper,6 he had complained of it to Morgan in a
tone of wounded pride and jealousy, because one
Fulgeam and his brother had at the same time
been honored with her service. He still declared,
however, the constancy of his devotion. The day
after receiving this complaint Morgan had written
to Mary (May 9th, 1586), stating the fact; and
urging that the intelligence should be renewed,
and particularly that she would "write three or
four lines with her own hand to the said Babing-
1 Camden, 839. Hume, III. 140. ' Camden, 339. Hume, HI. 140.
D'Israeli, 168. 4 Camden, 339. Rapin, H. 124.
• Hargrave, I. 132. 6 Hargrave, I. 149.

96 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. III.
ton." This letter Avas sent in charge to the young
gentleman himself, and doubtless occasioned in part
the freeness Avith Avhich Mary afterAvards commu
nicated with him.1 Soon after he received it, a
note from her, written in a cipher which he well
knew, and dated June 28th, Avas delivered to him
by an unknoAvn boy. After acknowledging his
" effectual affection," and saying that her silence
had been " against her will," she inquired for
packets from abroad.2 This reneAval of their sus
pended correspondence was like oil to the fire.
In the overflow of joy for her feAV but precious
Avords, having perfect confidence in " the way which
she had opened for him,"3 and blinded by his glad
ness to all prudential considerations, he rashly poured
out the burden of his soul by a frank and full dis
closure of all that was in progress in her behalf.
In this way, and we think naturally, we account for
the remarkable explicitness of a letter so danger
ous ; not emulating the hardihood or moral re
sponsibility of those who charge it as a cold-blooded
forgery upon Walsingham, as a Paper devised for
the sole purpose of " seducing " an imprisoned prin
cess " to furnish evidence which might be after
wards used against herself."4 It may be added
also, that the proverb, " Whom the gods would de
stroy they first dement," is no less applicable in
Babington's case than in the cases of thousands
and tens of thousands who have verified it. " Cau
tion and disguise " are indeed, as Lingard says,
' Murdin, 513. * Murdin, 533.
2 Hargrave, I. 149. Holingshed, * Lingard, VIII. 220. Strick-
IV. 924. Camden, 338. land, VII. 366.

Ch. Ill] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 97
natural to conspirators"; yet how often, remiss in
both, have they given the only clew, by their own
folly, to their own machinations, and thus wrought
their own ruin.
In his letter, Babington informed Mary, " that
sufficient strength for the assuring of the invasion
was appointed to arrive, with a strong party at
every place to join with them and warrant their
landing, her deliverance, and the' despatch of the
usurping competitor ; that himself, with ten gentle
man of quality and one hundred followers, would
undertake the deliverance of her person ; that for
the despatch of the usurper, — from obedience to
whom, by excommunication of her, they were made
free, — there were six noble gentlemen, all his pri
vate friends, who would undertake the tragical ex
ecution ; that all the chief actors had solemnly
taken vow to perform all these things or lose their
lives in the attempt ; and that, upon her assurance,
they would receive the blessed sacrament there
upon, to prevail or fortunately to die."1
We pass over Mary's answer to this letter, and
the manner in which she met it when afterwards
upon trial ; because neither her complicity in the
conspiracy, nor her innocence of such complicity, is
relevant to the purpose we have in view, — to
show the facts, the character, and the ramificar
tions of the conspiracy itself. We may say, how
ever, that, aside from her answer produced before
the Commissioners her judges, there is evidence
in one letter to her that she knew of the plan
to murder Elizabeth ; and, in other letters of her
1 Hargrave, I. 153.
VOL. III. 13

OS

BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY.

[Cn HI.

own, and in letters which she receiA-ed, evidence
that she knew, approved of, and by her counsels
promoted, the plan of an invasion and insurrection.
For the latter Avho can blame her ? 1

1 Morgan wrote to her (July 9th,
1586) : " There be some good mem
bers that attend opportunity to do
the Queen of England a piece of
service which, I trust, will quiet
many things, if it shall please
God to lay his assistance to the
cause, for which I pray daily."
(Murdin, 530.) This, I think, con
tains enough of " caution and dis
guise " — • though not equal to the
letter of the Cardinal of Como
(ante, Vol. II. 527, 528, and note) —
to meet Dr. Lingard's expectations
in such a case. Yet how could
Mary fail to understand that a
" tragical execution " was the " piece
of service " indicated ?
On the 29th day of May, Charles
Paget wrote to her from Paris, that
Ballard had put things in train in
England for an insurrection, pro
vided " foreign help might be as
sured " ; and that Mendoza had
given encouragement to provide it,
and had even advertised the king
of Spain that it had been solicited.
(Murdin, 517, 518.) Mary received
this letter, and, on the 27th day of
July, answered it, saying : " Upon
the return of Ballard, the principal
Catholics who had despatched him
over seas have, imparted unto me
their intentions conform to that
which you wrote me thereof. ....
I have made them a very ample
despatch containing point by point
my advice for all things requisite,
as well for this side as for without

the realm  If ever the Pope
and the King of Spain have had
intention to provide for this State,
the occasion is now offered very
advantageously, finding therein uni
versally the Catholics so disposed
and forwards, as there is more ado
to keep them back, than in putting
them to the contrary  I have
written to the said Catholics, that
before they have sufficient promise
and assurance of the prince and
the King of Spain for accomplishing
of that which is required of them,
nothing should be stirred on this
side  I like well the succors
should come from the Lowlands, as
you write ; but I hardly believe
that the Prince of Parma," &c., &c.
(Murdin, 531, 532.)
The description which the Queen
of Scots here gives of a letter of
her own to " the principal Catho
lics," corresponds remarkably with
a letter purporting to have been
written by her on the twelfth day
of July, to Babington, her medium
of communication, with the Catho
lics in England. In this letter he
is directed " to assure her principal
friends " thus and thus. So remark
ably does this description answer to
this very letter, — produced against
her at her trial, but challenged by
historians as not authentic, — that
we can hardly doubt that she here
refers to it ; or, in other words, has
identified it as her own.

Cn. HI.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 99
On the twenty-fifth day of July,1 being then in
London,2 Babington received Queen Mary's answer
to his letter. In the answer she directed that, so
soon as her friends had perfected their arrangements
throughout the realm for the invasion, they should
" impart the same with all diligence to Bernardine
de Mendoza, Ambassador Lieger for the King of
Spain in France."3 She had previously given the
same direction to " the principal of the Catholics "
with whom she was in correspondence ; adding that
" Ballard, or some other the most faithful and secret
they could find," should be sent as the messenger
to Mendoza, and that her friends in England should
not move further in their enterprise " until suf
ficient promise and assurance of the Pope and
King of Spain," should have been received.4 Bab
ington now proceeded to obey these instructions ;
and obtained for Ballard a license to travel under
a false name. He resolved also to go himself, and
therefore applied to Poley — who, it will be re
membered, was domiciled in Walsingham's family
— to procure through the minister " a license from
the queen for himself to travel into France ; prom
ising to do her extraordinary good service in pump
ing out and discovering the secret designs of the
fugitives in behalf of the Queen of Scots." Walsing
ham thanked him for his offer, and readily prom
ised him the license; and also great rewards in
case of success.6 Yet he dallied with the young
man, deferring his license from day to day.
1 Hargrave, I. 13.1. * Murdin, 531 ; the Queen -<f
• Strickland, VII. 376. Lingard, Scots to Charles Paget
VHL 224. * Camden, 340.
* Hargrave, I. 150.

100 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. III.
The catastrophe was at hand. Gilbert Gifford,
upon his return from Paris in June, had resumed his
station near Chartley, communicating Avith Mary
through her secretaries, receiving her letters and her
confidence,1 being at the same time the chief discov
erer 2 of things to Walsingham, and maintaining
friendly acquaintance Avith Ballard and with Savage.3
Maud also Avas on the ground.4 Poley was frater
nizing with the conspirators, professing to be one of
them, and knew their persons and their secrets.
Thus plotters and counter-plotters were intermin
gled; the former unsuspicious, the latter on the
alert in Walsingham's service ; and the untiring
minister himself holding in his own hands every
thread of the conspiracy.5 Thus far he had kept to
himself the information which he had been gather
ing from so many sources. But when he came into
possession of the two letters of Mary and Babing
ton, — the best proof which could be obtained of
the nature and extent of the conspiracy, — he laid
the whole matter before Queen Elizabeth. Her Ma
jesty was greatly disturbed, and ordered the imme
diate arrest of Ballard, which was effected on the
* Murdin, 519, 533. Lingard, in prompting such an inquiry; for
VHL 217. he had already the information
2 Camden, 340. thereby sought. Of this, Phillips,
8 Lingard, VIH 227. when he framed the note, was
1 Ibid., 225. doubtless ignorant, and it is as little
3 It is said that a postscript in to be questioned, I conceive, that
Mary's cipher was appended by Walsingham forbade its being af-
Phillips to one of her letters, by fixed to Mary's letter. Phillips
which she was made to ask of certainly wrote such a request ; but
Babington the names of those who it was "upon a scrap of paper"
had been appointed to assassinate (Lingard, VIII. 224, note) ; but
Queen Elizabeth. Walsingham there is no evidence that he ever
himself could have had no motive copied it as is alleged.

Ch. 111.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 101
fourth day of August, at Babington's house in Lon
don, just as he was about to embark for France.1
Babington was, of course, greatly alarmed. He
immediately consulted with Titchbourne and Sav
age. Titchbourne advised that every man should
escape for his life ; 2 but Savage said that the only
course in this emergency was to proceed at once to
the despatch of Queen Elizabeth, premature as the
act might be. To this Babington acceded, providing
Savage with the means to procure. a suitable court
apparel, that he and Charnock might get access to
the queen's presence and strike the blow.8 In his
fluttered state of mind, he next wrote to Walsing
ham, who was then with the Court at Windsor,4
entreating him to forward his travelling license, and
that Ballard, " who would be of special service to
him in the business he had undertaken," might be
set at liberty. Walsingham, to quiet him, replied
that Ballard had been arrested by the Queen's pur
suivants as a seminary priest ; that Babington would
do well to " beware of that kind of men," and that
to prevent the jealousy of those whom he was about
to visit in France he had better remain " in his own
house at London,"5 until the queen's signature for
his license could be obtained, so that upon Walsing-
ham's return to the city, they might consult to-
1 Hargrave, I. 129. Camden, and Hume think the latter; which
341. Holingshed, IV. 925. I doubt, because Camden's expres-
2 Camden, 341, 342. sion is ambiguous, and because it
' Hargrave, I. 129. Holingshed, seems to me that a residence in
IV. 925. Camden, 842. Walsingham's house would have
4 Holingshed, IV. 904. Stow, tended to excite, not to prevent,
728. the jealousy of Mary's friend)
8 Whose house ? Babington's abroad.
own, or Walsingham's? Lingard

102 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. Ill
gether about Babington's proposed operations in
France.1 The Secretary now revealed the conspiracy to the
queen's Council, and Avrote to Scudamore, one of his
trusty servants, to dog Babington, " under pretence
of securing him from pursuivants," who might, per
chance, seek to arrest him as the harborer of a semi
nary priest.2 This letter Babington chanced to
see, and "the next night,"3 August 7th, adroitly
escaped from Scudamore and another of Walsing
ham's servants, proceeded to Westminster, and an
nounced to his colleagues that their plots were
discovered. All the conspirators hastily disguised
themselves and fled. As soon as this was known at
Windsor4 proclamation was made throughout the
kingdom announcing that a conspiracy had been dis
covered for the overthrow of the Church and the
State by the assassination of Burleigh, Leicester,
and Queen Elizabeth, and by the introduction of
foreign troops. The proclamation concluded by
nominating the conspirators who had secreted them
selves, and by commanding all good men and true
upon their allegiance to aid in "a very strict in
quiry and search universal for their apprehensions." 6
The crazy scheme of Somerville in 1583, the trial
of Carter in January, 1583-4, the trial of Throck
morton for high treason in the succeeding month
of May, the peril of the queen's life, indicated by
1 Camden, 342. letter of Chasteauneuf, the French
2 Ibid. Lingard, VIII. 226, note, ambassador, fixes precisely the date
3 A careful reader of Hargrave of Babington's escape. (Lingard,
will perceive that there is not VIII. 226, note.)
necessarily any discrepancy be- * Lingard, VIII. 226.
tween the dates there given and 6 Holingshed, IV. 898.
those which I have adopted. A

Ch. IH.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 103
the late bond of association, and by the late -• Act
for the surety of her Majesty's most royal person,"
the murderous plot of Parry in the last year, the
timely discovery and suppression, by the Earl of
Sussex, only two months ago, "of a conspiracy of
rising and rebellion," in the county of Hampshire,
and " also in other shires," a — all these things occur
ring in rapid succession during the last three years,
had kept the minds of the people in a constant state
of feverish alarm. When, therefore, this new and
murderous conspiracy, not of two or three, but of
so large a number, was suddenly announced by the
Court, when it became known, too, that the conspir
ators, nearly all of whom belonged to families of the
English gentry, were yet lurking in places unknown,
a panic pervading all classes in London — the high
seat of loyalty — was but a natural result.
The officers of the Crown were stimulated not
only by peremptory orders from above, but by offi
cial pride and by their full-hearted sympathy with
the multitude. They wrought with the utmost zeal,
diligence, and even rigor, by day and by night, that
they might ferret out "the caitiffs most execrable
who had most shamefully betrayed God in betraying
his anointed, even good Queen Elizabeth, the Lord's
lieutenant, and vicegerent general." The consta
bles of London, especially, Avere zealous and untiring
in their search, having no regard for neighbor, friend,
or estate, but entering " the very bed-chambers
of many a wealthy and worshipful person" in the
prosecution of their work. The same measures
were pursued elsewhere. Villages, the mansions of
1 Wright, II. 296, 298 ; Sussex to Burleigh.

104 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. HI.
the rural gentry, cottages, barns, avoocIs, and se
cluded dells, were carefully examined. The whole
country was scoured. But vriien day after day had
passed, and night after night, in fruitless labor, " the
expected issue failing, people's minds greAv unquiet
and discontented," until the very children, too young
to comprehend the gravity of the cause, began to
share in the general alarm.1
On the 17th of the month the tide suddenly
turned. The citizens of .London were as much
elated with joy as they had been cast down with
fear. " Hedge and bush was so beaten, that some
of those noisome birds were arrested and sur
prised," hidden in the barn of one Jerome Bellamy,,
who had, in charity, fed and concealed them.a
News was brought that they were about to enter
the city on their way to the Tower. "The sound
hereof rang brim, and people thronged together
to see the unnatural beasts." 8 As the culprits
made their appearance, horsed after the manner of
Campian and his comrades when on a like jour
ney, the cries of the multitude bespoke their detes
tation. The enthusiasm of the people now burst forth.
The usual formalities of society were forgotten in
the gush of loyal joy ; for not only neighbors and
friends, but strangers, shook hands and embraced,
" as they fell in talk of the present accident." The
whole city was wild with gladness. The bells of
the churches rang a perpetual peal " as upon the
day of her Majesty's coronation." Then followed
1 Holingshed, IV. 898. 3 Holingshed, I\ . 898.
2 Camden, 343.

Ch. IH] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 105
a night brilliant with street fires, to which every
house brought its contribution; and even "the
meaner sort of people, though wood was then at
a sore extent of price," gave of their scanty pence
for fuel. It was a night of brightness ; a night
of street feasting, " on square tables and round " ;
a night of merry-making "in comely and honest
sort " ; and more than all, a night of " reconcilia
tion between divers that had been at overthwarts
and in secret grudge," — such a night as we have
before attempted to describe.1 In some streets
were heard hymns of praise to God ; in others,
the music of tabor and pipe ; in others, loud hurrahs.
Thus from steeple and people, the air rang with
sounds of exultation, good cheer, good-will, and
religious praise, until daylight and weariness put
an end to festivity.2
To this demonstration the queen saw fit to re
spond by a special " letter of thanks to the city
for the manifold testifications of their love and
loyalty." 8 This letter was read on the twenty-second
day of the month to " a great assembly of the com
moners in the Guild-hall of the city, to their great
contentation and delight."4
The rest of the conspirators were taken soon
after, with the exception of Windsore, who success
fully eluded pursuit.5
Gifford, from the first, had represented to Mary,
that in serving her he was in hourly peril of his
life ; and in June, under pretence that he could
1 Ante, Vol. I. pp. 161, 162. 8 Holingshed, IV. 902, 904.
2 Holingshed, IV. 899, 900. « Stow, 728.
Stow, 728. Camden, 848. Strype's * Camden, 343.
Annals, V. 607.
vol. m. 14

106 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. IU
no longer avoid detection, had taken leave of her
to go, he said, immediately to France ; where she
believed him to be in conference Avith Morgan,
early in July.1 Yet he remained in London, en
gaged in his perfidious operations for her ruin,
until the last of July-. KnoAving then that his
treachery must be exposed by the explosion of
the conspiracy within a few days, and aAvare that
he should then be exposed to the vengeance of
those whose kindred he had betrayed, he obtained
means of passing the sea from the secretary of the
French ambassador. At the same time he directed
Chasteauneuf that Mary's letters should be deliv
ered to whoever should present the counterpart to
a certain paper which he left in his hands. The
counterpart was in the office of Walsingham. He
then fled to Paris. After a residence there of some
months, he was thrown into prison " for incontinent
and dishonest living." Mary's friends there, con
vinced of his treachery towards her, contrived to
have him kept in close confinement until his death,
four years afterwards. He died miserably and full
of remorse ; confessing, by word of mouth and in
writing, most of the particulars of his perfidy which
we have stated.2 Such was the end of " an active
but vicious priest, the best spy in the Avorld."
Robert Poley was no less exposed to a violent
retribution than Gifford. Walsingham, however, se
cured him behind the walls of the Tower, until the
fury of the avengers of blood was overpast.3

1 Murdin, 470, 519. 8 Lingard, VUI. 228.
2 Camden, 344. Lingard, yilL
227, 228, and note.

Ch. HI.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 107
It is unnecessary to comment upon the course
which Elizabeth's trusty Secretary pursued to un-
raA'el completely this complicated and desperate con
spiracy. That the interests of the realm were at
stake, that it was in the line of common sense to
bring the entire plot and all the plotters — not a
part of either — within the grasp of the govern
ment, and that stealth could be foiled only by
stealth, is his sufficient justification. It will be time
to canvass the charges that the whole was his cun
ning device for bringing the Queen of Scots to the
block, and that for this he forged letters in her name
or caused them to be forged, or to be falsified by
interpolations, whenever such charges are sustained
by something more respectable than conjecture.
Surely for libels so terrible against one high in
station, and of honor no otherwise ever impeached,
we have a right to challenge the highest species of
proof, and, until such is produced, to spurn them.1
On the other hand, we have a simple fact to state.
When Mary's letter of July 12th to Babington Avas
produced upon her trial, she said, "It is an easy
matter to counterfeit the ciphers and characters of
others. I fear also lest, this hath been done by Sir
Francis Walsingham to bring me to my death."
1 "The great character which Note S upon this point is well
Sir Francis Walsingham bears for worth examination. He says —
probity and honor," says Mr. Hume and he gives his reasons for it — that
(III. 148), " should remove from the supposition of forgery by Wal-
him all suspicion of such base arts singham, or under his direction,
as forgery and subornation ; arts M implies such a monstrous criminal
which even the most corrupt minis- conduct in him, and consequently in
ters, in the most corrupt times, Elizabeth (for the matter could be
would scruple to employ." Mr. no secret to her) as exceeds all
Hume's very sensible and spirited credibility."

108 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Cu. III.
The Secretary replied instantly, and Avith the mosj
solemn emphasis, "I call God to record, that, as a
private person, I have done nothing unbeseeming an
honest man; nor, as I bear the place of a public
person, have I done anything unworthy of my place.
I confess that, being very careful for the safety of
the queen and realm, I have curiously searched
out the practices against the same. If Ballard had
offered me his help, I should not have refused it;
yea, I would have recompensed the pains he had
taken." " With this answer," replied Mary, " I am satisfied.
I pray you, sir, be not angry. I have spoken freely
what I have heard reported. I pray you give no
more credit to those who slander me, than I do to
such as accuse you." 1
This short colloquy speaks volumes. If Mary was
" satisfied " by this answer that the " slander " which
she had repeated was unworthy of "credit," what
have Mary's posthumous advocates to say ? Should
not they be satisfied with the same ? Why is it not
easier, more tenable, and more honorable to say,
" Mary had a right to her liberty, a right to secure
it at whatever cost to her, oppressor " ?
In this affair, Walsingham, for a high and noble
end, was tracking men who were prowling in the
dark. Under darkness, therefore, he was compelled
to follow, or suffer them to advance without impedi
ment to a most fearful catastrophe. He had not
been too vigilant, too crafty, or too expeditious.
The month in which he brought the conspiracy to
light and to confusion was the very month fixed
1 Hargrave, I. 153.

Ch. HI.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 109
upon "by the Spaniards," as appears in one of
Mary's letters now in the British Museum, "to be
ready for the invasion of England,  who were
much disconcerted by the discovery of the plot."1
Indeed, before the eighth day of September their
fleet had advanced so far as off the coasts of France,2
at a time when England was but poorly prepared
to repel them.
From the seventeenth or the eighteenth day of
August8 to the twenty-ninth,4 Lord Burleigh and
others of her Majesty's councillors were " daily occu
pied" in examining the principal conspirators, and
in receiving their confessions, made "without any
torture or torment."6
On the thirteenth and fourteenth days of Septem
ber, Babington, Titchbourne, Salisbury, Barnewell,
Savage, Down, and Ballard, being arraigned at
Westminster, all pleaded guilty ; Titchbourne, Iioay-
ever, declaring that he was guilty only as he knew
of the treasons and concealed them. It Avas an
affecting scene, — so many young men of high
hearts, of ripe wit, of flourishing estates, of classic
and courtly accomplishments, — in hopeless prospect
of a most terrible doom. Sir Christopher Hatton
could not suppress his emotions. " 0 Ballard, Bal
lard ! " he exclaimed, " what hast thou done ! A
company of brave youths, otherwise endued with
good gifts, by thy inducement hast thou brought to
their utter destruction ! "
" Yea, I protest," said Babington, -- before I met
1 Wright, II. 307, note. 4 Strype's Annals, V. 605.
• Ibid., 311. ' Holingshed, IV. 909.
8 Ibid , 306.

110 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. in.
with this Ballard, I never meant nor intended to kill
the queen ; but by his persuasion I was induced to
believe that she Avas excommunicate, and therefore
lawful to murder her."
The Jesuit, touched with compunction, replied,
" Yea, Mr. Babington, lay all the blame upon me.
But I wish the shedding of my blood might be the
saving of your life. HoAvbeit, say what you will, I
will say no more." x
We have signified that, in fortune, education, and
social position, this band of conspirators were far
above the ordinary class of capital offenders. They
were so in other respects. For their tenderness of
heart in the most sacred relations of life, for their
considerateness in its more ordinary relations, for
their sense of honor, for their scrupulous integrity,
for their affectionate fidelity to one another, and for
their heroism in a certain sense, they command our
admiration ; they force us to drop a tear over their
untimely ruin and their bloody retribution. They
were Catholics, bigoted, deluded, terribly in the
wrong ; and because they were such, while we depre
cate their crime, let us glean what we can to their
honor. Let us notice those scintillations of unsul
lied manhood which they gave forth, as they went
from prison to judgment, from judgment to its exe
cution. They shall be their own witnesses.
When Abington, Tilney, Jones, Travers, Char-
nock, Bellamy, and Gage were arraigned on the
next day they all pleaded, "Not Guilty."
Bellamy had had no part in the conspiracy. He
seems to have been " a very clownish, blunt " rus-
1 Hargrave, I. 128-134.

Ch. IH.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. Ill
tic. To his last moment on the gallows "he spake
very little." The charge against him was, that,
after being told that Babington, Barnewell, and
Dunn had conspired for the queen's death, he had
humanely but traitorously fed them as they cow
ered in the woods, and then had sheltered and
comforted them under his humble roof. The poor
fellow had a right to be moody ; for his widowed
mother had been indicted with him for the same
offence, though not now at the bar ; and his brother
had just strangled himself in prison.1
Charnock confessed that he had furnished Savage
with disguise, and had fled with him to the woods.
" For flying away with my friend, I fulfilled the
part of a friend."
-- To perform thy friendship," said Sir Christopher
Hatton, " thou didst break thy allegiance."
" Therein have I offended " ; and he accompanied
the words with a courtesy of dignified submission
of Avhich the Vice-Chamberlain himself might have
been proud.
The indictment against Gage was for harboring
and serving Ballard, knowing him to be a semi
nary priest and an inciter to rebellion, and for aid
ing Babington in his flight. He confessed that
he himself fled into the woods upon the discovery
of the conspiracy.
1 Camden, 845. ed to take her from the bar to some
Mrs. Bellamy was brought to other place." (Hargrave, I. 133.)
tho bar by the name of Elizabeth. Dr. Lingard (VIII. 231, note) says,
" The Lieutenant of the Tower in- that " she escaped " — prosecution
formed the Court, that the woman's — " because she had been indicted,
name was Katherine, and not Eliza- perhaps purposely, by the name of
beth ; whereupon he was command- Elizabeth."

112 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. III.
"Wherefore didst thou flee into the Avoods?"
asked the Lord Chief Baron ManAVOod.
" For company," Avas the Spartan reply.
Jones had informed Salisbury of Babington's arrest,
and had provided him Avith a horse upon Avhich to
escape. " I confess," said he, " that I concealed the
treason, and hastened Salisbury aAvay."
" Then you deny not," said Roger Manwood,
" that you horsed him away."
" I confess it. My case Avas hard and lamentable ;
either to betray my dearest friend, Avhom I loved as
my own self, or else to break my allegiance and
so undo myself and mine forever. This was my
case." A verdict of guilty was rendered against all.
When called upon individually to say why judg
ment of death should not be given against them,
they manifested a spirit rarely found among men
in such a situation. Hopelessly resigned to the
horrors of their fate, with scarcely a word in their
own behalf, their solicitude was for those who would
be stricken by their death and by the forfeiture
of their estates to the Crown.
" I am contented to abide the punishment due
unto my guilt," said Abington, calmly. But his lips
quivered AA'hen he added, " My good lords — I —
have — a sister ; one — only one. If it will please
her Majesty to provide for her in some sort from
the revenues of my lands, if I live I will endeavor
to be thankful ; if I die, for her Majesty will I
pray." "My good lords," said Tilney, "I am able to
say nothing in deferring of my judgment. But

Ch. IU.} BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 113
this humble suit I must make unto your Honors,
that you would procure my friends to pay about
two or three hundred pounds which I owe in Lon
don, for the discharge of my conscience."
Jones had been invited by Salisbury to join in
the delivery of the Queen of Scots ; but had re
fused ; and at the same time had besought his
friend to withdraw from associates who would surely
lead him only to destruction. He had advanced
him money and sent him into the country, pur
posely that he might be away from such influences.
Yet Salisbury, drawn by a sort of infatuation, could
not be easy except in London. This went to Jones's
heart, and he had made another effort to shield
and redeem his friend. He had discharged his do
mestic establishment; but upon Salisbury's return,
he had sent for his horses, had " called his servants
together again, and had begun to keep house more
freshly than ever, only because he was weary to
see Salisbury's straggling, and would keep him
about home." Even when the latter had avowed
that he was engaged to kill the queen, he had only
remonstrated with him that it was a most wicked
act to offer violence to his natural prince, and had
bade him beware. To no one of his treasonable
practices had Jones ever consented ; but he could
not- find heart to betray him. It Avas therefore a
touching appeal which he now made to the Court.
-- 1 beseech your Honors to be a means to her
Majesty for mercy. For desiring to be counted a
faithful friend, I am now condemned for a false trai
tor. The love of Thomas Salisbury hath made me
hate myself. God knows how far I was from intend-
VOL. III. 15

114 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. UT.
ing any treason. But if mercy may not be, I beseech
your Honors this : I owe some sums of money, not
very much, and have more OAving me. I beseech
that my debts may be paid. I beseech you, more
over, that of my lands some consideration may be
had of my posterity."
"I have never committed treason," said Travers,
" but for my religion. In it I will die. I owe four
pounds, or such a matter. I beseech you it may be
paid out of the profits of my lands."
Charnock besought Mr. Vice-Chamberlain to inter
cede with her Majesty for his pardon.
"I am sorry for thee," replied Hatton, "but thy
offence is too high. Hadst thou applied thyself to
the best way, thou mightest have done thy country
good service."
" I beseech you then that six angels, which such
an one hath of mine, may be delivered unto my
brother to pay my debts. "
-- How much is thy debts ? "
" The same six angels would discharge it."
" Then I promise thee it shall be paid."
The rest answered little, whereupon they all re
ceived judgment of death.1
Five days had passed since Chidiock Titchbourne
had heard the sentence of death. To him the sun
had gone down for the last time, and the last twi
light had faded away. The gloom of his solitary cell
was softened by a single lamp, beside which lay a
rude inkhorn, a pen, and paper. The stern turnkey
— seldom moved by miseries to which by long hab-
1 Hargrave, I. 128-140.

Ch. in.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. H5
itude he had become hardened — had been touched
with compassion for one so young, so gentle in his
ways, so soon to die. Memory seemed to have got
the mastery over the prisoner, — Memory, and An
ticipation, her twin. Scenes long since forgotten
were rising before him like a new creation ; rapidly,
rapidly, and with wondrous distinctness. But none
so life-like as of the gleeful days of childhood, and
the thousand blandishments of a mother's love. Pic
tures of his boyhood, too, with its school-days and
holidays ; of opening manhood, with its plans of
daring and of ambition. But these were less vivid
and less pure than the echoed words from a moth
er's lips, or the memory of trustful happiness by a
mother's side. Still their outline was distinct. Then
came up afresh each particular of the temptation,
each particular of the imprudence or the weakness,
which had wrought his doom. Then, spite of him
self, would obtrude the apparatus of to-morrow's
butchery ; and then, to soften or cancel this terrific
vision, he would think of to-morrow's night, when all
would be overpast, and when, he hoped, he should
find a painless, sinless life, through the blessed pas
sion of his Saviour Christ. Such thronging mem
ories, with their pleasing and their mournful associ
ations, mingling in confusion and in conflict with
such visions of a dreadful and of a joyous future,
wrought powerfully upon a body already shaken
and attenuated by the misgivings, the self-reproach
es, and the bitter griefs of the last few weeks. In
his anguish he threw himself upon his knees, implor
ing for the past, forgiveness ; for the future, grace ;
for the present hour, support. Soothed and strength-

116 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. Ill
ened by his brief appeal to God, he betook himself
to his' last sad work. It was past midnight when he
gave ATent to an OA'ercharged heart in an affecting
farewell letter to his wife, and in penning a poetical
lament over his youthful ruin.1
The ink was hardly dry upon his paper, when
the last act of the tragedy commenced. In the
barbarous preliminary of dragging fast bound upon
the hurdle, Ballard, as the " notable arch-traitor,"
had precedence, by being in advance in the pro
cession of death, and by being on a hurdle by
himself. The others were bound two and two;
Babington and Savage, Barnewell and Titchbourne,
Tilney and Abington. Through " the ways pestered
with people so multiplied — of each sex and every
age — as they thronged and overran one another
for haste," the wretched men were jerked along
to St. Giles's Fields, — where they had been wont
to meet, — to a scaffold and gallows of unusual
height. The executioner was in waiting with hal
ter, hatchet, and knife, with a brisk fire at hand, and
with seven pointed stakes attached to the scaffold.
The Commissioners who had tried them, peers of
the realm, and reverend clergy, were there also.2
The victims of the law, after their exhausting pas
sage from the Toiver, had strength of body and the
heart to address the gaping thousands who had
come -' with earnest eye " to enjoy the " happy
sight " of " this great execution." 3
Ballard offered no extenuation of his guilt, ex-
1 For these Papers, see Disraeli's 5 Holingshed, IV. 914 - 916.
" Curiosities of Literature," 168, Camden, 344. Hargrave, I. 140.
169. 3 Holingshed, IV. 915.

Ch. m.| BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. H7
cept that his doings had been from unselfish mo
tives, and for the advancement of true religion.
He then betook himself to prayer.
Babington also disavowed that he had been in
fluenced by any selfish end ; and averred that he
had been persuaded that what he aimed to do was
lawful and meritorious. He then turned to the
Lords, and to the Commissioners (for his trial), and
craved of them that regard might he had to the
rightful claim of one whose money he had received
for certain lands, the conveyance of which was yet
legally incomplete. " I pray you also," he added,
-- that a certain servant of mine whom I have sent
into the east countries, and who by my forfeiture
of goods is greatly impoverished, may be compen
sated. For my wife, she hath good friends to whose
consideration I leave her." Then asking her Majes
ty's forgiveness he also betook himself to prayer.
"I am a Catholic," said Tilney. " I believe in
Jesus Christ ; and by his passion I hope to be
saved." At this point a clergyman began " to
school him in points of religion." " I came hither
to die, doctor, and not to argue" was his answer;
and, we' confess, a grand, but stinging one. He then
prayed for himself, for Queen Elizabeth that she
might live long, and affectingly exhorted all young
gentlemen to take warning by him.
Barnewell said a few words, and ended with prayer.
So did Savage and Abington. But nothing passed
their lips which requires our record. But, true
to our purpose to do justice to the memory of
these infatuated men, we transcribe with pleasure
the substance of Titchbourne's words.

118 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Cn. HI
-- Countrymen and my dear friends ! You expect
I should speak something. I am a bad orator, and
my text is worse. It were in vain to enter into
the discourse of the whole matter for which I am
brought hither, for that it hath been revealed here
tofore, and is well known to most of this company.
Let me be a warning to all young gentlemen, es
pecially to those who are generous-minded in their
friendships. I had a friend, and a dear friend, of
whom I made no small account, whose friendship
hath brought me to this. He told me the whole
matter, I cannot deny, as they had laid it down
to be done ; but I always thought it to be impious
and denied to be a dealer in it. But the regard
of my friend caused me to be a man in whom the
old proverb was verified, 'I was silent, and so con
sented.' 
" My dear countrymen ! my sorrows may be your
joy, yet mix your smiles with tears, and pity my
case. I am descended from an house, from two
hundred years before the Conquest, never stained
till this my misfortune. I have a wife and one child,
— my wife Agnes, my dear wife, and there 's my
grief ! — and six sisters, left on my hand. My good
mother, a widow, and four brothers also, and their
posterity, yea, our whole house, is infamed forever!1
My poor servants I know, their master being taken,
were dispersed, for all whom I do most heartily
grieve. I expected some favor, though I deserved
nothing less, that the remainder of my years might
in some sort have recompensed my former guilt,
1 Holingshed, IV. 917. The writer was present. Ibid., 915.

Ch HI] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. H9
Which seeing I have missed, let me now meditate
upon the joys I hope to enjoy." 1
Then, after a few moments in prayer, he said, " I
do heartily ask forgiveness of her Majesty, and all
the world, and hope steadfastly that now, at this my
last extremity, my faith will not fail."
His humility, his mournful tale, and his moan over
the fallen fortunes of his house, greatly excited the
compassion of the multitude.2
When the executioner advanced to do his office
first upon Ballard, the others turned their backs and
bowed themselves in prayer until each was called to
suffer, with the exception of Babington, who stood
witnessing stoically the fate of his seducer through
all its horrid details. After pretence of hanging,
the priest was cut down and slaughtered, according
to the prescript pattern of the laAv, and in full pos
session of his senses. His bowels extracted and
throivn reeking upon the fire, his body quartered,
his head impaled, — all this Babington beheld un
daunted. He then surrendered himself, crying sev
eral times in his extremity while under the knife,
-* Spare me, Lord Jesus ! 0 Lord Jesus, forgive ! "
Thus in succession was every one subjected to dis
section, while yet alive !
The other seven conspirators were executed the
next day, but with this great difference, that they
were permitted to hang until life was extinct before
the rest of their sentence was completed.8 The rea
son of this difference was, that " the queen, being
1 DTsraeli. 345. Hargrave's State Trials, L
' Holingshed, IV. 917. 140- 142.
• Ibid., 916-919. Camden, 344,

120

BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY.

[Ch. Ill

informed of the severity used in the executions of
the day before, and detesting such cruelty, gave ex
press orders that these should be used more favora
bly ; and accordingly they were permitted to hang
till they were quite dead." 1
Thus was a bloody and terrible vengeance wrought
upon that plot for the murder of Elizabeth which
was vaguely initiated after the assassination of Wil
liam Prince of Orange, but which had been impeded
two full years.2
We accept the opinion, that " the general body of
the Catholics " in England " took no part Avhatever in
this conspiracy."8 How far they would have coincided
and co-operated with it in the event of an invasion
from Spain, is yet open to conjecture ; and it should

1 Hargrave, 1. 142. Camden, 345.
Notwithstanding these first-class
authorities, Dr. Lingard has the
front to say (VIII. 230) that " the
queen had wished that they " — all
these fourteen criminals — " might
suffer some kind of death more
barbarous and excruciating than
the usual punishment of treason ;
but when it was represented to her
that such an alteration would be
illegal, she consented that the law
should have its course, on condition
that the executions were ' protract
ed to the extremity of pain ' in
them, and in full sight ofthe people."
He also conceals the fact (of course
he does) that the mitigation of the
penalty in the case of the last seven
was by her " express orders." It
requires some self-restraint to meet
such a representation without some
show of indignation. Would that
the Catholic historian had given us

his authority for his remarkable
words ! Would that he had given
us at least a hint of some kind of
death imaginable to Queen Eliza
beth, or even to himself, more bar
barous, more revolting, more excru
ciating, " than the usual punishment
of treason " ! In some instances —
one at least — the operation of the
knife was protracted " nearly half
an hour before the sufferer was
rendered entirely insensible of pain."
This particular case is given by
DTsraeli, page 168, note.
A defamation of the living, how
ever unjust, may under some cir
cumstances command our respect as
an act of courage. But who ever
honored the ass for kicking the dead
lion ?
2 Murdin, 414. Ante, Vol. H
508, 509.
8 Butler, I. 385.

Ch. m.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 121
be borne in mind that co-operation with foreign
forces aiming at the deliverance and enthronement
of Mary must have comprised action for the death
of Elizabeth. We see no reason to doubt the state
ment of Ballard to Mendoza, that there were "noble
men and knights in divers shires" who had sworn
to take arms with invading troops from Spain. Nor
is it to be supposed that Babington and his associates
would have advanced so far in their schemes had
they not believed that invasion would have been sus
tained by a formidable insurrection ; for, to the most
enthusiastic and rash, it must have been obvious that
either movement would have been mad without the
conjunction of the other.
This conspiracy should not be estimated by itself.
There were certain circumstances which gave it
peculiar importance. Such had lately been the
dearth of religious instruction by the English
Church, on the one hand, — so many zealous preach
ers silenced, so many ignorant, and, in some instan
ces, graceless substitutes installed, and so many
cures left vacant, — and such religious diligence of
the Papists, on the other hand, that they -- had
gained more in these few years than in many years
before " ; and in proportion to their proselyting suc
cess, and to the increase of their religious zeal, had
become inclined, " upon any occasion offered by the
show of any outward force, to rebel suddenly."1 We
have Sir Francis Knollys's opinion to the same effect,
expressed in two Papers, one of which he laid before
the Privy Council when in serious deliberation about
1 Strype's Annals, V. 624, 625 ; gerous State of the Realm," and
from a Paper entitled " The Dan- indorsed by Lord Burleigh.
vol. in. 16

122 BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. [Ch. IU.
the late conspiracy. He maintained that one cause
of her Majesty's peril was the absolute authority of
the bishops, who condemned, without appeal, preach
ers who Avere zealous against the Pope's authority,
sound in doctrine, but scrupulous about ceremonies
of a papistical complexion, merely because they
would not subscribe certain " unlawful articles." He
further stated, that the fourteen conspirators Avere
all born under her Majesty's reign, but that, in con
sequence of the neglect of the prelates to provide
competent preaching for the young, when there
were competent men willing freely to teach, these
youth have fallen into the hands of the diligent
Jesuits, who had corrupted their minds and seduced
them from their allegiance.1
Again, the protection of Elizabeth's person, upon
whom the first Woav was to have been struck, was
usually only nominal,2 so that she might easily have
fallen a prey to a resolute handful of armed men.
Yet again, Philip of Spain, having been pressed
with the chivalric argument that to abandon the
Queen of Scots without a blow for her rescue would
redound to his lasting infamy,3 and having been per
suaded by letters out of England that one half the
realm was ready for revolt, and that therefore suc
cess to his forces was insured, had already mustered
1 Strype's Whitgift, 266, bis; Ap- for the use, of the Privy Council, it
pendix, Book III. No. XXXIV. p. is uncertain." (Strype's Whitgift,
116. To the same purpose is an- 268; Appendix, No. XXXV. p.
other Paper, drawn by Mr. Beal, 117.) Mr. Strype adds, " This Pa-
Clerk of the Council, " Whether to per, though written by a Puritan,
be delivered in this Parliament, may deserve to be read."
whereof he was a member," says 2 Camden, 340.
Mr. Strype, " or by direction, and a Murdin, 543.

Ch. HI] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 123
three hundred sail of his navy, and had gathered
his veteran soldiers " out of all his holds and forts,
both in Spain and Italy." 1
Finally, some of his ships had actually put to sea
to make the attack upon England in concert with
her Majesty's assassination, Avhen their plans were
disconcerted by the arrest of the conspirators.2
With all these things in view, it is evident that
the conspiracy of Babington was far more formida
ble to the queen and to the realm than any other
movement of her enemies .since the day of her ac
cession. We can therefore say with emphasis, —
fortunately it was crushed in the very hour of its
ripeness. 1 Wright, II. 302, 803 ; " The declaration of B. Bland, lately arrived
from Spain."
2 Ante, p. 109.

CHAPTER IV.
THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7.
Commissioners appointed foe the Trial of the Queen of Scots. — Their
Sentence. — Elizabeth recommits the Case to Parliament. — The
Lord Chancellor's Petition in Behalf of the Lords, for the Execu
tion of Mary. — The Speaker's Petition in Behalf of the Commons.
— Elizabeth's Reply. — Her special Message, that the Parliament
might devise other Means for the Safety of the Realm. — They
reply, that they " can find no other avay " ; and iterate their
Petition. — Her ¦' Answer answerless." — Parliament adjourn. — Pub
lic Rejoicings for the Proceedings against Mary. — The Sincerity
of Elizabeth considered. — The Honesty of the Parliament, particu
larly of the Puritan Members, considered. — Hostile Plans of Spaih
ARE DISCOVERED. — A SPECIAL EMBASSY FROM FRANCE. — The AMBASSA
DOR Ordinary schemes for the Murder of Elizabeth. — His Plot
discovered. — Alarming Rumors. — Elizabeth's Perplexity. — She or
ders A AV ARRANT FOR MARY'S EXECUTION TO BE DRAWN.  IT IS SIGNED
and despatched without the queen's knowledge. — her anger. —
Her Behavior upon hearing of Mary's Death. — The Presbyterian
Platform. — Parliament reassemble. — A Bill offered in the Com
mons for A new Book of Discipline and of Common Prayer. — The
Queen demands it. — The Bill and Book read, upon a Motion of
Peter Wentworth. — A Speech against them. — AA'entworth takfs
his Stand for the Liberties of the House. — His Articles, or Ques
tions, THEREUPON.  He IS SENT TO THE TOWER ; AND OTHERS ALSO. — A
Motion, and a Committee of Conference, for their Release. — The
Queen petitioned " in Behalf of the new Model " of Discipline. —
Her Answer. — The Bill of the Puritans considered — The Attempt
of Marguerite Lambrun to assassinate Queen Elizabeth.
The Queen of Scots had been seriously involved
in the late conspiracy. Elizabeth's Council had
long been of the opinion that while Mary lived —
whose name, as we have before said, was the fulcrum
on which to rest the plots of the religious and
political enemies of the commonwealth — neither
the life of their queen nor the tranquillity of the

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OP 1586-7. 125
.realm could be assured.1 This conviction had easily
been exalted to certainty by the murderous and
revolutionary enterprise which had just been under
taken in Mary's behalf, and with her privity and
concurrence.2 The question was now agitated at
the Council-board, What should be done with the
royal captive ? Some reasoned that, as she was
only an accessory to the late plot, and as her fail
ing health indicated but a short life, they should
have recourse simply to her more rigorous confine
ment, rather than to the invidious and ill-omened
measure of shedding the blood of an anointed prince.
The Earl of Leicester wrote from Holland, advising
that she should be despatched by poison. He even
sent over a divine to urge upon Walsingham the
righteous policy of an operation so safe and silent.
The honorable statesman revolted at the proposal,
and spurned it. At length it was resolved, for the
security of religion and of the realm, that Mary
should be put to death ; but openly, and after legal
conviction under the late "Act for the surety of
her Majesty's person and the continuance of the
realm in peace." Therefore, and according to the
tenor or that act, Queen Elizabeth appointed Com
missioners " to examine all and singular matters
compassed and imagined tending to the hurt of
our royal person, as well by Mary, daughter and
heir of James V., King of Scots, and commonly
called Queen of Scots and Dowager of France, as

1 Ante, Vol. I. 419,429, and note, removal of Elizabeth was to be a
2 " It seems continually forgotten, preliminary step." (Nares, IH
that in regard to the projects in 30.5, note.)
hand for Mary's deliverance, the

126 TITE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV.
by any other person or persons with the privity
of the same Mary,  and thereupon to give
sentence or judgment as upon good proof matter
shall appear."1 These Commissioners, or Judges,
were noblemen, Privy Councillors, and Judges of
the Courts,2 most of whom arrived at Fotheringay
Castle in the County of Northampton — whither
the Queen of Scots had been removed — on the
11th day of October, and on the next day con
vened. For two days, Mary refused to recognize
such a tribunal; but on the 14th of the month,
"she yielded to appear before them to her trial."
On the 25th, having adjourned to the Star-
chamber in Westminster, the Court " pronounced
and delivered their sentence and judgment, 
that Mary had compassed and imagined, within the
realm and since the first day of June, divers mat
ters tending to the hurt, death, and destruction of
the royal person of our sovereign lady the queen." 8
1 Hargrave, I. 146. Camden, (Oct. 27th), wrote, "Some ofthe
345, 346. Hume III. 143, 144. Commissioners" — at Westminster
Lingard, VIII. 232, and note. — " stood well affected to Mary;
2 Murdin, 576. Holingshed, IV. yet, considering the plainness and
941. evidence of the proofs, every one of
3 The reporter of the trial (Har- them gave their sentence against
grave, I. 155) says that, upon their her," &c. (Wright, H. 320.) Thus
reassembling at Westminster, " all to their unanimity we have testi-
the Commissioners met saving moriy from two distinct sources.
Shrewsbury and Warwick, .... by Now two of the Commissioners —
whom sentence was pronounced the Lord Admiral Howard and the
against the Queen of Scots, and Viscount Montague — were Cath-
confirmed with the seals and sub- olics. Montague was present at
scriptions of the Commissioners, Fotheringay and at Westminster.
and recorded in these words : Of Howard's presence at either
' By their joint assent and con- place I find no indication ; but this
sent, they do pronounce and de- is immaterial if it be true, as Lin-
clare,' " &c. Again, Walsingham, gard asserts (VIII. 244), that " the
in a letter to Sir Edward Stafford several Commissioners subscribed to

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 127
To this they added, on the same day, an important
declaration : " That the said sentence did derogate
nothing from James, King of Scots, in title or honor ;
but that he was in the same place, degree, and
right, as if the same sentence had never been
pronounced." 1
Queen Elizabeth, hoping to avert, or at least to
mollify, the odium which must attach to her name,
avowed — we are not warranted to say affected —
great reluctance to proceed to extremities against
her kinswoman; and added that, but for her mater
nal regard for her loving people, she would pardon
the royal culprit upon the moment.2 These senti
ments she affcerAvards expressed publicly, as We
shall narrate. Professing, therefore, not to be satis
fied with the trial and attainder of Mary by the
Commissioners as a sufficient warrant for proceed
ing to her execution, she resolved — and she had
resolved it before Mary's trial8 — to recommit the
case, not to a new special Commission, but "to
the impartial examination and final judgment of
the whole realm." For this purpose, she had in
anticipation dissolved the late Parliament on the
fourteenth day of September, and assembled a new
one on the twenty-ninth day of October, "merely
about this business." i
the verdict, even those who had not Wright, — it is a fact of no small
attended at Fotheringay." If two importance.
Catholics so eminent, or even one, * Hargrave, I. 145, 146, 148, 155.
gave sentence under hand and seal Wright, II. 319, 320; Sir Francis
that Mary " was not only accessory AValsingham to Sir Edward Stafford.
and privy to the conspiracy, but 2 Hume, HI. 149.
also imaginer and compasser of 3 Wright, II. 314 ; Burleigh to
her Majesty's destruction," — such Leicester.
is the language in Hargrave and in ' D'Ewes, 375.

128 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1366-7. [Ch. IA'-
Her Majesty did not open the Parliament in per
son, but secluded herself at Richmond1 and appointed
three Commissioners "in her name and stead to be
gin, hold, continue, adjourn, or prorogue the Parlia
ment, as to them should seem fitting and needful." 2
A proceeding so unusual, though not Avithout pre
cedent, adopted too Avhen her life had been but
recently so jeoparded, was not Avithout its moral
effect. Parliament and people reasoned that her
Majesty did not make her usual progress to West
minster, because she considered herself still exposed
to assassination.3 She herself gave a different rea
son : '•' I have been glad to absent myself from this
Parliament, lest I should increase my sorrow by
hearing the case before them spoken of, and not
out of fear of any danger, as some think." 4
At the opening of the Parliament, the Lord Chan
cellor announced that they were not assembled to
make laws or to replenish her Majesty's treasur}*,
but to advise Avhat should be done with the only
surviving conspirator in the late attempt upon her
Majesty's life.5
The whole subject of the late conspiracy and the
Scottish queen's complicity therein were "fully di
lated upon," and the proofs of each were exhibited
in both Houses. After these discourses and mani
festations, it was resolved "to present a Petition
(which had been agreed upon by both Houses) unto
her Highness for the speedy execution of Mary, late
1 Holingshed, IV. 429. answer to the Lord Chancellor
* D'Ewes, 391. Bromley. D'Ewes, 375. Camden,
8 Ibid., 375. 365.
4 Hargrave, I. 157; the Queen's 6 D'Ewes, 377.

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 129
Queen of Scots, according to that just sentence
which had been pronounced against her." * Accord
ingly, on the twelfth day of November, the Lord
Chancellor and twenty of the temporal Lords, to
gether with a large committee of the Commons, and
John Puckering, their Speaker, departed to lay the
petition before her Majesty at Richmond.
The Lord Chancellor Bromley, in behalf of the
Lords, declared " that the Parliament, representing
the people of all degrees in the realm, were fully
satisfied and convinced, after careful consideration,
that all the traitorous complots of her Majesty's
enemies had been by and from the Scottish queen
and her favorers, and that these would continue so
long as the said Scottish queen should be spared the
due punishment she had so often and in so many
ways deserved." He said, in conclusion, " Ave do
most humbly beseech your most excellent Majesty
that direction be given for further proceedings
against the said Scottish queen, according to the
true meaning of the statute of the twenty-seventh
year of your Majesty's most gracious reign, because,
upon advised and great consultation, we cannot find
that there is any possible means to provide for your
Majesty's safety, and the good estate of this most
flourishing Commonwealth, but by the just and
speedy execution of the said queen."2
Mr. Speaker Puckering then made his appeal for
royal inclemency.3 " This Scottish queen," said he,

1 D'Ewes, 400. address and of Puckering's ia em-
2 Hargrave, I. 156, 157. Holing- bodied in one Paper.
shed, IX. 930. D'Ewes, 380-382; 8 Holingshed, IV. 931. D'Ewes,
where the substance of Bromley's 380.
VOL. in. 17

130 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. ]Ch. IV.
" claimeth to enjoy your crown in possession, is
hardened in malice against your royal person, seek
eth your life and deposition as one excommunicate
of the holy father, and will not spare any means
that may take you from us. being the only let that
she may not enjoy her desire. Therefore, unless
execution of this jilst sentence be done, your Ma
jesty's person cannot any Avhile be safe.
"Again, she is poisoned Avith Papistry from her
tender youth, and will supplant the Gospel where
and whensoever she may. Therefore, unless execu
tion of this just sentence be done, religion cannot
long continue among us.
"Again, if she prevail, she will make us slaves.
She hath already provided us a foster-father and a
nurse, — the Pope and the king of Spain, — into
whose hands if we should fall, what can we look
for but ruin of goods, lands, lives, honor, all? There
fore, unless execution of this just sentence be done,
the most flourishing present state of this realm must
shortly receive a woful fall.
" In the fourth place, mercy now in this case
towards her will in the end prove cruelty against us
all ; and therefore in sparing her your Majesty will
spoil us and provoke the heavy hand and wrath of
God. Let your Majesty also consider, that thousands
of your Majesty's subjects who have by solemn vow
protested to pursue unto death such as she is by just
sentence noAv found to be, can neither discharge their
love nor Avell save their oaths, if your Majesty shall
keep her alive.
" Lastly, let your Majesty well weigh the fearful
examples of God's vengeance against Saul for spar-

Ch. TV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 131
ing Agag, and against Ahab for saving the life of
Benhadad ; and, on the other hand, remember how
wisely Solomon proceeded to punishment, when he
took the life of his brother for the only intention
of a marriage that gave suspicion of treason against
him. " Therefore we pray you that you will no longer
be careless of your life ; no longer suffer religion to
be threatened, the realm to stand in danger, nor us
to dwell in fear ; but as justice hath given sentence,
so you will grant execution. As her life threateneth
your death, so her death may, by God's favor, pro
long your life." *
In reply to these petitions and arguments, her
Majesty acknowledged herself peculiarly bound to
God for two " miracles " ; the first, her preservation
from so many dangers ; the second, the continu
ance of her subjects' good-will for twenty-eight
years. She expressed her great grief for Mary's
crime ; protested that she bore her no ill-will ; " and
even yet," she added, " would she repent, and even
should no one advocate her cause, I protest unfeign-
edly I would most willingly pardon her, but for the
safety and welfare of my whole people. Nay, if
England might by my death attain a more flourish
ing estate and a better prince, I would most gladly
lay down my life, for, for your sakes it is, and for
my people's, that I desire to live  So far
was the late act of Parliament from being made to
entrap her, that it was rather intended to foreAvarn
and terrify her from attempting anything against it.
But seeing it was now in force as a law, I thought
1 Hargrave, I. 158-160. Holingshed, IV. 931, 932.

132 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586 7. [Ch. IV.
good to proceed against her according to the same.
 But forasmuch as this matter now in hand
is very rare and of greatest consequence, I hope you
do not look for any present resolution ; for my man
ner is, in matters of less moment than this, to delib
erate long upon that Avhich is once to be resolved.
In the mean time, I beseech Almighty God to illumi
nate my mind  We will signify our resolu
tion Avith all conveniency, and whatever the best
subjects may expect at the hands of the best princes,
that expect from me to be performed to the full." J
On the fourteenth day of November, the Speaker
made report to the Commons of this her Highness's
answer, and on the fifteenth, the Lord Chancellor also
made report of the same to the Lords.2 At the
same times it was announced in each House, as a
special request which her Majesty had forgotten to
make in her answer, that "her Highness, moved
with commiseration towards the Scottish queen, in
respect of her former dignity and great fortunes,
her nearness of kindred, and her sex, could be
pleased to forbear the taking of her blood, if by
any other means to be devised by the great Council
of the realm, the safety of her Majesty's person and
of the State might be preserved without danger of
ruin." 3
When the question was put in the House of Lords,
on the twenty-second of the month, upon this the
queen's message of request, the Lords, "every one
being particularly asked his several voice, answered
Avith one accord, that they could find no other way
1 Hargrave, I. 157, 158. Holing- 2 D'Ewes, 379, 402.
shed, IV. 933 - 935. 3 Ibid. Holingshed, IV. 935.

Co. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 133
than was set down in their petition to her Majesty."
"The like question was proposed to them of the
House of Commons, and they answered all with one
consent, no man gainsaying, that they could find
none other way " ; and it Avas there further " re
solved by the whole House to insist only upon their
petition accordingly." 1
Committees were then deputed to wait upon her
Majesty with this answer from each House ; which
answer, with its reasons, was rendered on the twen
ty-fourth day of the month at the Court at Rich
mond, by the Lord Chancellor and by the Speaker
of the loAver House.2
In reply, the queen declared most solemnly, that
she had no intent to make a show of clemency ;
that the Lords who had sat in Commission to adju
dicate Mary's case had been expressly left to the
free action of their own consciences, to perfect
freedom of voice and liberty of opinion, uninflu
enced by any fear of displeasing her or of being
of an opinion contrary to her safety. She said
further: "My prolonging of this time hath been
of a willing mind and great desire I had that
some other means might be found out, wherein I
should have taken more comfort than in any other
thing under the sun  What will my slan
derers now say, when it shall be spread that, for
safety of her life, a maiden queen could be con
tent to spill the blood even of her kinswoman?
I may therefore full well complain that any man
1 Holingshed, IV. 935, 943 ; the * Holingshed, IV. 936 - 938 ; by
Queen's proclamation. D'Ewes, an ear-witness.
380, 404.

134 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV.
should think me given to cruelty, whereof I am
so guiltless and innocent as I should slander God
if I should say he gave me so vile a mind. Yea,
I protest I am so far from it that, for mine own
life, I would not touch her ; neither hath my care
been so much bent how to prolong mine, as how
to preserve both, Avhich I am right sorry is made
so hard, yea so impossible.
" I am not so void of judgment as not to see
mine own peril, nor yet so ignorant as not to
know it were in nature a foolish course to cherish
a SAvord to cut mine own throat  And
therefore touching your counsels, I conceive them
to be wise, honest, and conscionable  And
now for your petition, I shall pray you for this
present to content yourselves with an answer with
out an answer. Your judgment I condemn not,
neither do I mistake your reasons ; but pray you
to accept my thankfulness, excuse my doubtfulness
and take in good part my answer ansAverless 
If I should say I would not do what you request
it might, peradventure, be more than I thought
and to say I would do it, might perhaps breed
peril of that you labor to preserve."1
This answer Avas reported to the Lords on the
25th;2 but no record of its report to the Com
mons appears in the Journal. On the second day
of December, the Parliament was adjourned to the
fifteenth day of February.3
1 Holingshed, IV. 938 - 940. ed in the Chronicle, p. 936. It is,
Hargrave, I. 160. I have followed however, the same, except in forms
the report of this answer as given in of expression, as that in Hargrave.
Holingshed, because it was written 2 D'Ewes, 380.
by one who was present; as is stat- 8 Ibid., 382, 407.

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 135
An account of the proceedings of the Commis
sioners and of the Parliament against the Scottish
queen was published by proclamation in London
and Westminster on the sixth day of December;
'- with great port and stateliness, to the great and
wonderful rejoicing of the people of all sorts, as
manifestly appeared by their ringing of bells, making
of bonfires, and singing of psalms in every street
and lane of the city." x Immediately afterwards,
the same declaration was heralded throughout the
kingdom.2 The queen, in this her proclamation,
declared that she issued it with grief; her reluc
tance to do so having been overcome by the re
peated prayers and weighty arguments of the
nobles and commons of the realm in Parliament
assembled.3 " Yet there were some that thought
this to proceed from the art and guise of Avomen
who, though they desire a thing never so much,
yet will always seem rather to be constrained and
forced to it." 4 This opinion of " some " is not sur
prising, in a case where so many must have been
biased by religious and political partialities. But
it prompts us to a word, in passing, upon Eliza
beth's behavior in this serious affair.
If she believed Mary to be an incorrigible plot
ter against her life and crown, for which she had
reasons — perhaps stronger than we knoAv, or could
appreciate if we did know; if, too, she believed —
as she had reason to believe — that her own life

1 Holingshed, IV. 940. 4 Camden, 369. Hargrave's State
2 Camden, 869. Trials, I. 161
* Holingshed, IV. 941 - 948;
Queen's proclamation.

136 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Cn. IV.
and realm must be in jeopardy while Mary should
live . — might she not, at the same time, have had
a strong reluctance as a woman, as a kinsAvoman,
and as a prince, to strike a blow Avhich would, not
only vibrate throughout the Christian Avorld, but
might entail infamy upon her name for many gen
erations ? We think it could not have been other-
Avise. Again, with such a reluctance and Avith such
convictions, Avas it not due to herself to be fore
armed against the judgment of the world and of
posterity by the strongest justification of the coming
catastrophe which she could possibly command?
These things being granted, we ask, — What less
could she do, in justice to her convictions and in
justice to her name, than to elicit from her Parlia
ment the most emphatic and solemn declaration,
that Mary's life was justly forfeit, and that nothing
but her death could give hope of safety to herself
or to the realm, — in other words, the most august
ratification conceivable of the judgment of her Com
missioners ?
This also being granted, we ask once more, — Where
are the proofs of that dissimulation, pretence, artifice,
in a word, hypocrisy, with Avhich historians brand her
professed reluctance to extremities against Mary ?
We prefer to consider her professions sincere, for
their sincerity is consistent with the strong pecu
liarities of the case. Elizabeth spake and acted
wisely, — so we think ; having a queenly and justi
fiable regard to her good name during her OAvn
day and for future time. In our OAvn mind, we
discharge her memory from all taint of duplicity

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 137
and of spiteful or wanton cruelty in this affair, so
far as we have proceeded, until her solemn assever
ations of reluctance shall have been better met
than by the surmises and rhetoric of those Avho
are her juniors by two or three hundred years.
But we are more particularly concerned Avith
the action of Parliament in effecting Mary's fate ;
for in the Commons House the Puritans numbered
largely, if they were not indeed — as we think
they were — a majority. In vieAV of this fact only
have we constructed our account of Babington's
conspiracy, and of its immediate consequences. Did
the Puritans, in this case, give their voices for
Mary's execution merely because they counted her
worthy of it as an " idolater " ? Or did they so,
merely because, being a Catholic, she was the next
heir to the throne ? They did not act blindly.
They did not act in ignorance of testimony. Every
thing upon which the judgment of the Commis
sioners had been predicated was elaborated before
both Houses of Parliament. We must, therefore,
either suppose that the Puritans in Parliament were
convinced — we need not stop to ask whether on
sufficient or on insufficient evidence — that tlie
Queen of Scots had aided and abetted plots against
the life of Elizabeth and the peace of the realm,
or we must suppose that not they only, but all
the House of Lords, acted against their convictions
of Mary's innocence, and were influenced only by
state policy or religious antipathy, or by both.
But the latter supposition is too gross for our faith.
If we suppose the Puritans in the Commons to
have been savagely willing to consign to an un-
VOL. III. 18

138 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV
bought death the heir of the throne because she
was heretical, Avhat shall we say of those in the
House of Lords Avho consigned to the same death
the same heir of the throne Avhom they accounted
orthodox ? In the upper House Avere two sincere
Catholics, at least, — the Lord Admiral Howard and
the Viscount Montague, — each of Avhom was of
the judicial Commission. If the Journal of the
House of Lords be correct, these noblemen, these
Catholics — they Avere both present at the opening of
the Parliament,1 and doubtless were at the "asking
of voices " on the absorbing question — voted for
Mary's guilt and for Mary's death, in harmony with
the Protestant Lords and with the Puritan Com
mons. It should be remembered, too, that Mon
tague Avas no craven ; that he was the first man
Avho openly Avithstood in Queen Elizabeth's first
Parliament her claim to supremacy in the national
Church. Such remarkable unanimity — in a case
so grave — in all the conflicting religious parties,
(we say " unanimity," for there was not a single
dissentient,) compels us to the conclusion that the
proofs of Mary's guilt and of her desert of death
Ave re to the minds of all too strong even for relig
ious partialities to AA-ithstand. While, therefore, we
believe that the Catholics in the Lords acted from
convictions which overwhelmed their sympathies for
Mary, we hold — and we have a rigid right to hold
— that the Puritans in the Commons acted from
conviction, and not from antipathy ; that in neither
case did religious prejudices have sway.
True, it has been roundly asserted and lavishly
1 D'Ewes, 3/6.

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 139
iterated that her Majesty's will in this case was the
lever which hoisted the whole Parliament ; that they
"would never have expressed themselves in this
manner if they had not known it to be grateful to
the queen " ; that -- she knew " beforehand " that
she should not want the most earnest solicitations
to consent to that measure which was so agreeable
to her secret (?) inclinations." J In other words, in
plain words, in blunt and unpolite words, every indi
vidual member of the House of Lords, — Protestants
and Catholics, — and also every individual mem
ber of the House of Commons, were unprincipled,
servile sycophants, bowing passively and catering
meanly to the supposed (" secret " ?) will of the
queen in the decision of a case which they knew
would shake the nations ! If the Puritans were of
the same mind with Elizabeth, (Avhich we concede,)
so far as they were concerned the allegations Avhich
we have quoted were irrelevant. If they were not
of the same mind, would there not have been heard
in that House some voice contrary to the queen's
will ? Was not Peter Wentworth there ? Were not
he and his brother Puritans accustomed to speak
their minds irrespective of and in defiance of the
queen's will, even when openly expressed ? Did
they not — we shall show that they did — in this
very Parliament ? But more, the utmost liberty
was given, and by special message, and in terms
of remarkable latitude,2 for the free expression of
opinion, however contrary to the supposed wish of
her Majesty. Yet not a tongue moved in Mary's
behalf among the Puritans in the loAver House, or
1 Rapin, H. 130. Hume HI. 149. « D'Ewes, 402.

140 THE PARLIAMENT OF 15S6-7. [Ch. IV.
among the Catholics in the upper. We therefore
believe that every individual member of the Parlia
ment — Churchmen, Puritans, Catholics — acted hon
estly, uprightly, from a clear and firm conviction,
based upon testimony of Mary's guilt, of her judi
cial forfeiture of life. To historians Avho give a
different verdict, Ave reasonably put the question,
Where are the proofs ? We might, perhaps, con
struct a plausible, even a strong argument, to show
that every single man in this Parliament erred in
judgment. But it Avould be arrogating more than
Ave have the face to do, thus to arraign and con
demn the concentrated AA-isdom and the universal
conscience of an English Parliament, when the light
under Avhich they acted has become attenuated by
the lapse of Avellnigh three centuries.
Events of important significance and influence
were occurring in rapid succession, and concentrat
ing themselves upon the devoted head of the un
happy Mary.
The first that claims our notice is the demonstra
tion of the designs of the king of Spain against
England ; designs Avhich had before been so strongly
indicated "as to justify the utmost vigilance on the
part of the English Council." Philip had written to
the Pope that his formidable fleet was destined for a
hostile visit to England. This letter was confiden
tial. But one of Walsingham's "best spies in the
world" obtained a copy of it for twenty thousand
crowns from " a mistress of one of the Pope's confi
dants." This copy was received in England soon
after Christmas, during the recess of the Parliament

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 141
The letter stated that the Spanish fleet " was to land
in England to destroy Queen Elizabeth and heresy,
and to set the Queen of Scots on the throne." 1 This
unequivocal information could only render Mary's
condition more precarious ; it could only incite to
that stroke of the royal pen which would seal her
fate. But another discovery was made early in January,
1586-7, which confirmed the judgment of Parliament
that Elizabeth's life would be in imminent peril so long
as Mary's was spared; a discovery Avhich no doubt has
tened the warrant for her execution. To understand
the matter, it is necessary to advert to the state of
things in France. Mary was a devoted kinsAvoman of
the Guises. They were at odds with Henry III., their
king, and would gladly have deposed and imprisoned
him had Mary been in a situation to favor and aid
their wishes. In such a situation she would be,
should the succession of Elizabeth fall to her ; for
she would then be acknoAvledged as the mistress of
three kingdoms, and could muster forces sufficient
to sustain the faction of the Guises. This party,
therefore, wished for Elizabeth's death.
On the other hand, Henry, aAvare of their enmity
and jealous of their schemes, Avished for Mary's
death as important to his own security.2 True, he
sent a special ambassador, — the President de Bel-
lievre, — Avho arrived in London on the twenty-first
day of November,3 and avIio was charged to inter
cede in his master's name for the sparing of Mary's
1 Nares, III. 268. Dr. Taylor 2 Nares, III. 271, 282, 283.
errs (II. 198) in saying that this a Carte, III. 611.
information was given to Elizabeth
by tho Pope himself.

142 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV.
life. De BellieA-re did so in " an elaborate oration " ;
but at the same time he had secret instructions to
urge that she might be speeded to the scaffold, both
for the sake of France and of England.1 While in
England he was, of course, intimately associated with
L'Aubespine Chasteauneuf, Henry's ordinary ambas
sador there, who teas in the interest of the Guises? As
the two ambassadors were conversing together on
the twenty-sixth day of December, at Chasteauneuf's
residence, a young gentleman presented himself who
had long been received there on the terms of a
familiar acquaintance. This was William, brother
of Sir Echvard Stafford, the latter being Elizabeth's
ambassador at the court of Henry ; and their
"mother, one ofthe queen's honorable bedchamber."3
Soon after the entrance of William Stafford, Chas
teauneuf led him into a gallery, and abruptly said,
" I pray you tell me on'e thing : is there nobody
that for some croAvns will do an exploit ? "
1 Turner's History of the Reigns Camden also presents one argu-
of Edward ArL, Mary, and Eliza- ment from Elizabeth's courtiere
beth, (4to, London, 1829,) 643, and which is in point here (p. 381) :
note 89. After the death of the " The French king most religiously
Duke of Guise, Henry was openly maintaineth amity with England ;
charged with having caused Mary's and him it highly concerneth that
execution. (Rapin, II. 132, note 1.) by the timely death ofthe Queen
The following from Camden of Scots the hopes of the Guisians
(379) is in remarkable coincidence should be quashed, who, presuming
with the statement in the text of upon the expected future powor
Bellievre's secret instructions. "One of their kinswoman, do at present
of the principal persuaders for put- insolently insult over their king."
ting in execution the sentence of Thus was the imprisoned queen a
death against Mary was (as the mark for many archers ; from Eng-
Seots report) Patrick Gray, a Scot, land, from Rome, from France, and
sent purposely by the King of Scots even from Scotland.
to dissuade the queen from putting 2 Camden, 377. Turner, 644.
his mother to death; who many 3 Murdin, 580. Camden, 378.
times buzzed into the queen's ear,
' A dead woman biteth not.' "

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 143
" What should that be ? " inquired Stafford.
Chasteauneuf seemed excited, — probably having
some inkling of Bellievre's secret .mission, — and
answered in plain terms, " To kill the queen."
" Truly, I know of a very resolute fellow to do
such a feat ; but whether he may be spoke withal
or no, I know not, for he is in prison in Newgate by
commandment of the Archbishop of Canterbury."
" Tell me his name."
" Moody ; one that hath served my brother in
France. He is a miscontented man, and will do any
thing for money."
" Do me a good turn, Mr. Stafford. Devise some
means by which I myself, or my Secretary Cordallion,
may have access to this man."
" Well, I will see if I can compass it."
"I must haste to Monsieur cle Bellievre. Meanwhile,
content yourself with my gentleman De Trapps."
So saying, he summoned De Trapps and returned
to Bellievre. De Trapps welcomed Stafford, and,
after some speeches had when they should meet to
be merry together as aforetimes they had been,
began to mutter about the Queen of Scots, that he
could see no way with her but death, and broke into
many hard words against Queen Elizabeth. " I mar
vel," said he at last, " there will be no mad felloAV
will take it upon him to kill her. It should be a
memorial to him and his posterity. And you, Mr.
Stafford, that do live here discontentedly under Lei
cester's ill-Avill, and not likely to enjoy any favor,
might by such an enterprise get the favor of all
princes which are the Queen of Scots' allies ; and I
dare undertake to get you of the Pope a pension of
ten thousand croAvns."

144 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566-7. [Ch. IV.
" Now, by my faith, De Trapps ! some one hath
bid you say this to me as a man likely to take such
an enterprise. Declare unto me the party, and I will
give you an answer."
" In truth, then, it was one Moody."
" Give me a clay's respite, and I -will either take it
in hand myself, or Avill find out one that shall do it."
Thus they parted. After the intermission of a
day, Stafford held private and separate interviews
AA-ith Chasteauneuf and Avith De Trapps, the burden
of which was to open a way for conference with
Moody. This was effected on the second day of
January. De Trapps — instead of Cordallion, who
Avas occupied "about the despatch of Bellievre" —
obtained admission to Newgate as the agent of
Chasteauneuf, and Moody acceded to the plan for
Elizabeth's murder, saying that, " were he only out
of prison, he Avould do the ambassador good service,
that he was so Avell knoAvn at court that he could go
Avhere he pleased, that he knew a place under the
queen's bedchamber where he could easily place
tAventy pounds of gunpowder, make a train, and
overthrow everything"; "or, he could despatch her
by poison, or by some other Italian device." De
Trapps disliked these "fancies," and wished rather
that the queen might be quieted by a pistol-shot,
as the Prince of Orange had been.
The whole matter was soon after disclosed to
the Council by Stafford, who gave his statement
of the facts. De Trapps was arrested on his way
to France ; and his declaration was also taken in
" his own handAvriting." Moody Avas also brought
to examination, and " discoursed the whole cause

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 145
in Avriting." The disclosures of each corresponded ;
and were each given separately. Chasteauneuf, by
the queen's command, was called before Burleigh,
Leicester (Avho had returned to England in Novem
ber1), Hatton, and Davison, on the twelfth day of
January, where to his face Stafford declared the
whole history of the transaction, and that it had
originated Avith the ambassador himself; "upon his
knees taking Avitness of Almighty God, and upon
pain of his damnation," that his Avords were true.
Chasteauneuf did not deny his privity to the plot,
but pleaded his office in justification of his con
cealment, asserting that, as an ambassador, he was
not bound to reveal it to the queen's government,
but only to his master. He charged, however, that
Stafford was the first man who propounded the
matter. He was answered, that " howsoever he
would pretend that he ought not to discover such
a matter, as an ambassador, — Avhich was not agreed,
— yet in a case concerning the safety or loss of
a prince's life, as this did, yea, if it were the life
of any Christian, he, as a Christian and as Chas
teauneuf, was by God's law bound to Avithstand such
a wicked purpose. But he stiffly held a contrary
opinion, that neither as ambassador, nor as Chas
teauneuf, he ought to discover any such matter."
He was then dismissed, Avith the " grave advice "
to beware hoAV he committed treason any more.2
1 Holingshed, IV. 928. puted attempt.'* (III. 155.) Ra-
" Murdin, 578 - 583. Camden, pin says: " Who knows whether it
877-379. were not a snare laid for him,"
Tho verity of this plot has been -~ Chasteauneuf, — " to make him
challenged. Mr. Hume merely instrumental, contrary to his in-
notices it, in passing, as an " im- tention, in hastening the Queen
\'OL. in. 19

146

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566-7.

[Cu IV.

We have noticed this new plot against Eliza*
beth's life, and also the confirmation of Philip's
hostile purpose, because not only the queen, but
all Avho urged her to Mary's execution, or co
operated to effect it, ought to have the benefit
in history of such justifying facts.
When popular apprehension is aroused, it is im
possible to prevent false alarms ; and it is often
impossible to trace such alarms to their sources.
The sighing of the wind is sometimes mistaken
for the moans of the dying, and the rustling of
a bush for the rattle of armor. It is by no means
strange that immediately after the Babington con
spiracy and that of Chasteauneuf there should

of Scots' execution ? " (II. 132.)
Carte (III. 613) calls it "an odd
kind of a farce " ; and notices with
approbation the French representa
tion, that " the whole matter was a
contrivance of Elizabeth's ministers,
who set Stafford on proposing it to
the ambassador."
It is enough to know, on the
testimony of the Papers in Mur
din, that Stafford, Moody, and De
Trapps, though examined separate
ly, agreed essentially in their state
ments ; and that Chasteauneuf ac
knowledged that the plot was known
to him. The only point of disagree
ment was, with whom the plot origi
nated. The solemnity of Stafford's
asseverations — including this point
— should outweigh, I think, the
blank denial of the ambassador.
Chasteauneufs sj-mpathy with the
Guisian faction is a circumstance
which should come into account.
Again, it should not be forgotten,
in this connection, that his Secre

tary Cordallion (unquestionably
with his privity and consent) was
hand and glove with Ballard, SaT-
age, and Babington, in their scheme
for the assassination of Elizabeth.
(Strype's Annals, V. 605 - 607.)
In short, if we reject the testimony
of the Papers in Murdin, — and if
we do so, we must suppose such men
as Elizabeth's ministers capable of
crawling down to the contrivance of
a written lie, — we may as well reject
all Papers purporting to be copies of
original documents, and call history
a humbug. AVe may as well aban
don all faith in honorable manhood.
If we doubt the separate testimony
of the four men implicated, who all
concurred in the reality of the plot,
what testimony can ' we credit ?
Touching Rapin's question, (which
might be thrown in the face of any
alleged fact,) it is enough to retort,
¦ — Who knows anything ? who knows
whether Rapin ever wrote the words
which I have quoted as his ?

Cn. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 147
have been throughout the kingdom an unnatural
excitement, and a feverish apprehension touching
everything pertaining to the Queen of Scots. It
is not surprising, therefore, that alarming and ab
surd rumors were afloat, originating no one knew
where. " The Spanish fleet has arrived ! the Scots
have broken into England ! the Duke of Guise has
landed with a strong army ! the Queen of Scots
has escaped and gathered forces ! the city of Lon
don is set on fire ! Queen Elizabeth is dead ! " —
such were the appalling reports which now spread
like wild-fire through the whole realm.1 On the
third day of February, the Mayor of Exeter re-
ceived: from the constable of Honiton " a precept
charging him in her Majesty's name, upon pain of
death, to make diligent search and hue and cry
for the Queen of Scots who is fled " ; yet the pre
cept was without hand or seal of any Councillor
or Justice. On the fourth day came another, —
that " London was set on fire, and commanding
the Mayor and his Council, upon pain of death,
to have men, armor, and artillery in readiness and
with all speed ; to keep standing watch day and
night; and to send like precepts four manner of
ways from town to town"! Let this go to Exeter
on horseback! Haste! Haste! Haste!"2 Such is
a single example of the general disturbance.8
1 Camden, 379. determine Elizabeth to execute the
2 Wright, III. 329 - 832. sentence against Mary.by spreading
' Mr. Hume gratuitously attributes the report that the Spanish fleet
this universal and really frightful had arrived," &c, &c. Mr. Turner
commotion to Elizabeth's " duplicity says, more sensibly (p. 645, note 98),
and artifice." (III. 155.) Rapin says " Such rumors, producing such pub-
(11.122) that "means were found to lie effects, seem too dangerous for

148 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Cn. IV.
These rumors, developing the apprehension and
impatience of the nation at large, had undoubtedly
an influence to hasten the death-Avarrant of Mary.
Nor can Ave Avonder that, under these circumstances,
it seemed an inevitable necessity that the Avarrant
should no longer be delayed. Elizabeth was in
real and great perplexity. A thousand weighty
considerations Avere thronging painfully upon her
mind, and conflicting with each other; many of
them urging her to clemency, many to the instant
execution of judgment.1 She secluded herself,
" melancholic and mute ; and frequently muttering,
- Bear or strike ; strike or be stricken ! ' " 2 When
there Avere such reasons for such a mental con
flict, who can believe that this Avas but pretence
— duplicity — artifice ?
In this condition of mind, she gave to Davison,
one of her secretaries, a written order over her
own hand for draAving a warrant under the Great
Seal for the execution of Mary ; 3 that it might be
in readiness in case of sudden invasion or rebellion.
Davison communicated this to the Council, who
government to have circulated ; be- nite origin ; that they sprang from
cause, if they alarmed the magis- vague surmises, growing, as they
tracy, they would also tend to jiassed from mouth to mouth, into
encourage and excite the Catholic positive statements, until some con-
population, and therefore may have stable (as he of Honiton who sent
sprung from the instigators of this the precept to Exeter) thought it
body, to feel their pulse for an in- his duty to raise hue and cry.
surrection to liberate Mary, or to ' Camden gives a full and graphic
rouse them to it." This supposition grouping of these, pp. 380, 381.
is certainly more in accordance with 2 Camden, 382.
common sense than the supposition 3 Ibid., 382, 389. " Committed
that such rumors should have been to him a warrant signed with her
purposely initiated by Elizabeth or own hand." (Harg. VII. 21.
her ministers. But I still incline to Strype's Annals, V. 538, 546.)
the opinion, that they had no defi-

Ch.TV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 149
determined to take upon themselves the respon
sibility of putting the warrant into execution ; and
it was immediately despatched, without the queen's
knowledge, to the Earls of ShreAvsbury, Kent, Derby,
Cumberland, and others, ordering them to see the
sentence executed. It was dated on the third day
of February, and was signed by Burleigh, Leices
ter, Hunsdon, Knollys, Walsingham, Derby, Charles
Howard (a Catholic), Cobham ("not evil inclined"
toward Mary1), Hatton, and Davison.2
As soon as the queen discovered this, she called
her Council before her "into her withdrawing-cham-
ber, where she rebuked them all exceedingly for
concealing from her their proceeding ; but her in
dignation lighted most upon the Lord Treasurer
and Mr. Davison, who called them together and de
livered the commission. She protested that she
gave express commandment to the contrary"; that
she had enjoined Davison " to acquaint no man
therewith." She then " took order for the com
mitting of Mr. Secretary Davison to the Tower."8
When she heard of Mary's execution, which took
place on the eighth day of the month, she turned
pale with anger ; gave way to passionate exclama
tions of grief;4 expressed great indignation against
some of her Council ; drove them from her pres
ence ; banished them from her Court;5 and clad
herself in mourning. Her long-tried confidant, Bur
leigh, — still a faithful servant and an able counsellor,
1 Murdin, 489. " Wright, n. 332 ; Secretary
* Hargrave, I. 162. Turner, 645, Wolley to Leicester. Camden, 382.
note 100; from Ellis. Camden, * Camden, 888.
882. Hume, HI. 155, 156. Wright, 5 Strype's Annals, V. 539.
II. 332. note.

150 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ca. IV.
though aged and infirm, — she disgraced for months,
and commanded that Davison should be brought to
trial in the Star-chamber. The unfortunate Secre
tary was severely fined in the sum of ten thousand
pounds,1 and never recovered the royal favor.2
The news of Mary's execution Avas everywhere
received with astonishment and awe. Yet it is
said of the Pope (Sixtus V.), that he was moved
to a burst of admiration for Elizabeth's courage
in bringing a royal head to the block ; exclaiming,
" My God ! what a glorious princess ! What would
I not give to have it in my power to signalize
myself in the same manner!" Notwithstanding, he
went through all the solemn formalities of renew
ing her excommunication ; 3 absolving her subjects
from their oath of allegiance ; giving her kingdoms
to the first who should seize them ; declaring it
not only lawful, but commendable, to lay hands on
her and on her adherents ; and granting plenary
indulgence and remission of all their sins to all
who should assist for her OA*erthrow. i
Elizabeth has been freely and almost uniformly
charged with hypocrisy, when informed of the truly
mournful death of Mary. Yet we think that the
1 Camden, 390. frightened, and that he would do
2 Ibid., 392. Wright, H. 332, nothing more for the Spaniards.'
note. Turner, 649, note. Though he refused to advance any
3 Nares, IH. 269. Taylor, II. 199. money for the expedition, he sent
Dr. Taylor adds, — what we may whole chests of Agnus Dei medals,
be permitted to doubt, — " On the crucifixes, relics, rosaries, and simi-
other hand, Elizabeth caused the lar trumpery, with which the Span-
Pope to be excommunicated, in ish officers so loaded themselves
St. Paul's cathedral, by the Bishop that they looked more like pilgrims
of London ; a retort by which Six- than soldiers."
tus was much amused, declaring * Camden, 405. Rapin, IL 135.
that ' she was a princess not to be Butler, II. 4.

Ch. IV.]

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7.

151

execution was really in advance, to say the least,
of her intention ; and that — politically necessary
as it was, and as she knew it to be — it was still
an event which she truly deplored.1

1 I have examined at large all
the Papers of the time which I have
at command — and they are not a
few — which throw light upon Ma
ry's connection with the conspiracy
of Babington and upon Elizabeth's
true sentiments concerning her exe
cution. Previously, 1 had passively
yielded to the general current of
history, along which she is borne as
a ludicrous specimen of transparent
hypocrisy, imposing upon no one
but herself. By the documents be
fore me, I have been compelled to
the opinion expressed in the text.
I now believe firmly, that Elizabeth,
while convinced of the political ex
pediency, or rather of the political
necessity, of Mary's death, — while
convinced too of her complicity
with plans for her assassination, —
shrank to the very last from the
responsibility of giving a commission
for a death-warrant. Her grand
fault was in doing so a single mo
ment before she had irrevocably
determined upon Mary's execution.
This she had no right to do, not
withstanding the apparent necessity
of being prepared for an emergency.
That I may not seem to stand en
tirely alone, I give the following
quotations. " That upon the first news of the
Scots Queen's death" — which
seems to have been signalled to her
by the rejoicings of the populace
(Strickland, VII. 458) — "her
Majesty expressed great pretended
grief, seems to be but an odious in

sinuation ; and would have t>een too
mean a piece of hypocrisy, beneath
the queen. And those solemn and
earnest protestations she used in her
speeches to the States of her realm
in Parliament, the delays she made,
the scruples she put to her judges
and learned in the laws of England,
show how concerned and serious
she was ; and unwilling, and almost
resolved, in her own mind, to pro
ceed no further with that queen
than close restraint ; at least yet
awhile." (Strype's Annals, V. 538.)
" When she heard of Mary's exe
cution .... there was no affectation
or hypocrisy " — in her show of
anger and grief, — " but there was
great inconsistency in herself, and
injustice to others, in this conduct.
She had felt, on its public grounds,
the expediency or necessity of the
punishment. The whole Protes
tant portion of her people, we may
add of Europe too, were desiring
and requiring it  It does not
appear that any Protestant was
averse to this dire incident, except
Elizabeth  She found the in
tended and wilful precipitation of
her cabinet ministers had purpose
ly made the retractation of her
order to issue the warrant impossi
ble  But this celerity, well
meant by those who had the care
of the common safety, and seem
ingly their duty as servants of the
whole State, had precluded Eliza
beth from all benefit of reflection
or reconsideration, and had been

152 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV
We have before mentioned1 the preparatory steps
of the Puritans, in 1583, for the general adoption of
church discipline upon the Presbyterian plan. An
nexed to the Platform which Ave then described —
of Avhich that of Geneva Avas the prototype — Avas
" a neAV form of Common Prayer to be used in pub
lic." 2 In the 3-ear 1584, the Platform, or Book of
Discipline, Avas someAvhat modified, and seems to
have been the same Avhich, together Avith a bill for
its adoption, was offered to the Commons of 1584-5
by Dr. Turner ; both of Avhich, hoAvever, the House
prudentially refused to entertain.3 Just before the
meeting of that Parliament it had been printed at
Cambridge, " as meet to be embraced and used by
all the parish churches of England."4 But nearly
all the edition had been seized by the Yice-Chan-
cellor of the University, (and probably Avas burned
agreeably to Archbishop Whitgift's counsel,) as "very
factious and full of untruth"; as though the incoming
meant to do so. Her regret was venerated cabinet ministers, to be
therefore strong for the severity, justly suspected of any hypocrisy
and her resentment as earnest, that in her conduct." (Turner, 648,
in such a case she had been so in- 649, note 114.) There is more, ia
stantaneously obeyed," — rfisobeyed, this extended note of Mr. Turner,
one would think, judging from the which might be read with interest.
annals of the times. " Both their It is rich in its confutation of the
conduct and hers were equally na- sneers of Hume and Lingard.
tural, equally sincere, and equally ' Vol. II. 270- 276.
venial, — -perhaps also equally un- 2 Strype's AVhitgift, 247.
blamable  There wasno reason s Ibid , 151, 177. Ante, VoL H
for her to act dramatically such 461-463.
feelings before the public eve ; be- 4 Bancroft's Sermon on the Di-
cause that public were against her vine. Right of Bishops ; in Hicks'*
on this question, and on the side of " Bibliotheea Scriptorum," (Lon-
her ministers  She was there- don, 1709,) p. 286. Hereafter, in
fore too much offending the united referring to this sermon, I shall des-
feelings of her people, by her re- ignate only the page in " Hicks."
Bentment to her most popular and

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 153
light of day might be scared back by clamor or
veiled out by smoke.1 In this book no mention was
made of the civil magistrate,2 Avhich may have been
one reason why it met with no favor in the Com
mons House. Soon after that Parliament, the book
was again revised, and was more or less improved ; 8
and it- seems to have contained some indifferent rec
ognition oT the prince's relation to the Church.4
Religious liberty was yet in its leading-strings.
Only the despised Brownists had as yet grasped the
grand idea of freeing the Church and the worship
of God from the patronage and control of the State.
The Presbyterian Puritans still clung to the old idea
of ecclesiastical unity, and still held that the civil
power should be the strong right arm of the spirit
ual body. They had, however, taken one step in
advance of the order established, and toAvards that
entire freedom in religious Avorship whither they
were unconsciously tending, and Avhich was really
germinating in their system. They had drafted a
Form of Prayer for public service, but they had pro
vided therein that this prescript should not be obliga
tory, that every officiating minister might follow it,
or might modify it, according to the promptings of
his own heart.5
The Presbyterian Book, — "The Holy Discipline
of the Church described in the Word of God," — after
these revisions and emendations, had been subscribed
by the two Classes, or Presbyteries, of Warwickshire

1 Strype's Whitgift, 151 ; Annals, 4 Hicks, 287.
V. 413, 414. Brook, II. 328. s Ibid., 288. Strype's Whitgift,
" Hicks, 287. 177,257. Collier, VII. 34. Ante,
' Strype's Whitgift, 24 7. Vol. II. 462.
vol. in. 20

154 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. ICn. IV.
and Northamptonshire, containing twenty-four min
isters. In this their subscription they avowed the
Book to be agreeable to the Avord of God, so far as
they were able to judge, Avith the exception of some
feAv points yet to be decided. They also promised
therein to seek its adoption by humble suit to the
Council and to Parliament; to further and advance
it by all other laAvful and proper means, so far as
consistent with the law and with the peace of the
Church in its present state ; not to enforce the same
against either ; 1 and to observe the classical confer
ences, the provincial meetings, and the general as
semblies, prescribed in the Book.2
When the Parliament of 1586-7 reassembled, on
the fifteenth day of February, to which day they
had been adjourned, after the reading of two unim
portant bills in the lower House, they adjourned
again for one Aveek, Avhen — February 22d — they
again met and proceeded to business.3 Five days
aftenvards the Puritan voice was once more heard.
A petition was presented from the Puritan clergy for
redress of certain evils and grievances in the Church.
" It pierces our hearts with grief" — so read the sup
plication — "to hear the cries of the people for the
Word of God. The bishops either preach not at all,
or very seldom ; neither can they, for their manifold
business in the inspection of their dioceses and for
their being encumbered with civil affairs 
And whereas the Scriptures say that ministers of

1 This express stipulation, this importance. It will claim particu-
religious covenant, this prominent lar attention hereafter.
condition, in the bond of Presby- 2 Strype's AVhitgift, 263, 264.
terian brotherhood, is a point of 3 D'Ewes, 407, 408.

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 155
the Gospel should be such as are able to teach sound
doctrine, and to convince gainsayers, yet the bish
ops have made priests of the basest of the people,
not only for their occupations and trades whence
they have taken them, — as shoemakers, barbers,
tailors, water-bearers, shepherds, and horsekeepers,
— but also for their want of good learning and hon
esty. How true this our complaint is may appear
by the survey of some shires hereunto annexed, even
some of the best, Avhereby the rest may be estimated." 1
After stating that, of those ministers able to preach
instructively, many resided not with their flocks, and
others held two or three benefices ; and after stat
ing also that great numbers of those best qualified
for preaching, though neither heretics nor schismat
ics, were suspended and deprived, and that many of
them had been in prison and in irons for a long time,
1 This "Survey" was a series some of them clergymen. It ap-
of statistical tables, constructed at peared from this document, that.
much expense of labor and money, " after twenty-eight years' establish-
showing in one column the name of ment of the Church of England,
each incumbent of a benefice, and there were only two thousand
whether he was or was not a preach- preachers to serve nearly ten thou-
er ; in another, the yearly value of sand parishes." Yet, " a third part
the benefice ; in another, the num- of the ministers of England were
ber of souls in the cure ; in another, covered with a cloud of suspensions."
the " conversation " of each incum- (Ibid., 181.) In corroboration of
bent ; besides other columns show- tho character of the clergy as stated
ing other facts. In the "conversa- in this "Survey," I anticipate the
tion" — or moral deportment — col- remarkable words of Sir Richard
umn, we find such entries as these, Knightley when on trial before the
" he liveth as a pot-companion " ; lords in the High Court of Star-
" a simple man " ; "a common dicer, chamber {infra, Chap. V.) : " I
burned in tho hand for felony, and must needs confess there are in the
full of all iniquity " ; " covetous, his ministry some good ; yet to my
curate an ignorant man." (Neal, I. thinking, for one good there are
180.) The surveys of different forty bad ; yea, so bad as I think
counties were attested by residents ; them not worthy to sweep the
some of them justices of the peace, church." (Hargrave, VH. 36.)

156 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch.IV.
the petition proceeded : " To bring about these se
verities, the bishops tender to the suspected persons
an oath ex officio to ansAver all interrogatories Avhich
shall be put to them, though it be to accuse them
selves, and AA-hen they have gotten a confession, they
proceed upon it to punish them Avith all rigor 
Those who have refused the oath have been cast into
prison, and commanded there to lie Avithout bail till
they yield to it. The grounds of these- troubles are
not impiety, immorality, Avant of learning or of dili
gence in their ministerial Avork, but for not being
satisfied in the use of certain ceremonies  and
for not being able to declare that everything in the
Book of Common Prayer is agreeable to the Word
of God. We therefore most humbly, and for the
Lord's sake, crave at this high and honorable Court
of Parliament, that it may please you to hear and
read this our supplication, and take such order for
it as to your godly wisdom shall be thought neces
sary." x
After the reading of this petition, Mr. Cope, with
1 Neal, I. 179, 180. I have inserted this petition as
" The grievances annexed to this having been presented on the twen-
supplication were : — 1. The abso- ty-seventh day of February, only
lute power of the bishop to give, or because (though dated " Nov.,
to take away, licenses to preach, at 1586 ") Mr. Neal says (I. 181),
his pleasure ; 2. The proceedings •' With the supplication and survey
of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners above mentioned, a bill was offered
according to their own discretions, to the House of Commons," &c. ;
without regard to law ; 3. That only referring to the bill here mentioned
three of them might decide the most in the text. This is the only clew
weighty causes ; 4. The not allowing I have to the time when the Pe-
any appeal ; 5. That bishops sit on tition was presented. I also suppose
the bench both as bishops " — in- it to have been read.
terested parties — " and as Commis
sioners; 6. The oath ex officio."
(Neal, I. 180.)

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 157
the Presbyterian Book of Discipline and its form of
Common Prayer and administration of the sacra
ments in one hand, and with a bill for their enact
ment in the other, addressed the House of Commons
upon the necessity of a learned ministry, and of
amending certain defects in the existing ecclesiastical
system. He then offered the bill, providing " that
all laws now in force touching ecclesiastical govern
ment should be void, and that the Book of Discipline
and of Common Prayer which he presented might
be received into the Church to be used, and none
other." He then desired that the Book might be
read. To this the Speaker objected, that her Ma
jesty had already commanded the House not to
meddle in such matters. Notwithstanding this, the
House so insisted upon the reading that the Speak
er was obliged to yield, and directed the Clerk
accordingly. At this juncture Mr. Dalton interfered Avith an
argument against the reading, in Avhich he urged
that, inasmuch as the Book " did appoint a neAV form
of administration of the sacraments and ceremonies
of the Church, to the discredit of the Book of Com
mon Prayer and of the whole State, this dealing
would bring her Majesty's indignation against the
House, for such things her Majesty had especially
taken into her own charge and direction." Others
rejoined, "showing  that it was proper that the
petition and Book should be read." These speeches
engrossed the whole time until the usual hour of
rising ; so that the reading was not effected.1
These proceedings roused the queen. The next
1 D'Ewes, 410. Strype's Whitgift, 256.

158 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV.
day she sent for the Speaker, and detained him so
long that the House did not sit during the day.
She demanded of him the bill and the book which
had been presented, and also the bill and the book
" for the like effect Avhich Avere delivered at the last
session of Parliament," that is, during the Parliament
of 1584-5. All these he sent to her Majesty, but
precisely Avhen does not appear.1 That he did not
send them forthwith, is evident from what followed.
These proceedings roused Peter Wentworth. When
the House came together on the next day, — the first
day of March, — " the reading of the Bill and Book
was moved again by him," and they tvere read? They
were no sooner read, than Avarmly discussed, as will
soon appear ; and after a while they were attacked
in a speech by some member of the House, for
whose name Ave have no voucher.3
" The whole reformation begun in King Edward's
time, and undertaken by her Majesty, -consisteth
chiefly in a true government of the Church, in the
pure doctrine of Christ, and in a godly order for
public prayer and administration of the sacraments,
1 D'Ewes, 410. in part. The only reason which I
2 Strype's AVhitgift, 256, 257. have for giving it in this precise
I make these two assertions on connection is, that I know not where
the sole authority of Mr. Strype. it could more appropriately be
He says positively : " In the be- given ; for the bill and book which
ginning of March, it " — the reading it discusses must have been with-
— " was moved again by Mr. AVent- drawn from the House, and in the
worth." On the next page he adds : queen's hands, very soon after she
" Both this bill and book seem to demanded them of the Speaker on
have been read afterwards, though the last day of February.
endeavored to have been smothered 3 Mr. Strype conjectures (Life
at first." For this he gives his rea- of AVhitgift, p. 257) that this mem-
sous ; founded in a speech against ber was Sir Christopher Hatton.
both, which I now proceed to quote

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 159
with other holy rites and ceremonies. This reforma
tion was made upon most grave consideration by the
learned doctors and fathers of this Church. It hath
eftsoons been fined and refined," — he forgot to say
that the doctors and fathers intended to have fined
and refined further, — "and by her Majesty, at length,
brought to such perfection as the profession of this
reformed religion in England hath been ever since
the chief key and stay thereof, in all the reformed
Churches of Christendom  Among all the
assaults made hitherto by sundry sectaries against
this our reformation, there was never any, to my
knowledge, comparable to this last Bill and Book
exhibited here among us  If I be not de
ceived, I find a shameful slight, and cunning point
passed over, in this bill exhibited. It is well known
that some ringleaders in this schism have taught
that it was unlawful to have a prescribed form of
service in the Church. But now your fellows have
framed us one. Belike they meant every such kind
of service to be unlawful, except it were of your
own making. In good earnest, do you mean indeed
as you seem ? Shall we have a Book of Common
Prayer to be usually read, so as the common people
who cannot read, by often hearing one form, may
learn the same, to their great comforts elsewhere ?
What meaneth the Book, then, when in the rubric
before your chapter of public exercises, such an
order is there prescribed as doth never permit the
chief part thereof — the confession in the first chap
ter — to be read in the Church ? Besides, what
meaneth this ? There is a form of service set down
to be used before and after the sermon, which is

160 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Cn. IV.
indeed the AA'hole service. And yet, in the rubric
after the same, 'It shall not be necessary for the
minister daily,' etc. And in the chapter of bap-'
tism, ' He prayeth in this manner, or such like! And
in the chapter of the Lord's Supper, -The minister
giveth thanks in these Avords folloAving, or the like in
effect! So as for anything I see, although — to please
us Avithal — there be in sIioav a Book pretended, yet
in truth there is no such matter, but all, or the most
part, is left to the minister's spirit.
" Touching the second part of our reformation, —
true doctrine, — I take it the whole sum thereof is
contained in the Thirty-Nine Articles. Whereof I
find by this Bill and Book three of them wholly con
demned or abrogated ; viz. the thirty-fourth, of the
traditions of the Church ; the thirty-fifth, of Homi
lies ; the thirty-sixth, of making of bishops and min
isters. Besides, it seemeth to me that one of the
articles of our faith is, in effect, abrogated, — - He
descended into hell.' But this is a question, it
seems, among divines. I will not meddle with it.
"But I come to speak of our" Church "gov
ernment, which in some points is quite overthrown,
in some greatly shaken, and by some much endan
gered. That which I therefore mislike in this Bill
and Book is, that it is very injurious to us of the
laity, to the chief of the clergy, but especially to
her Majesty.
"First, to ourselves. It appeareth in the sixth
chapter of this Book that when any ecclesiastical man
should die, or be removed, the right of patronage
should be in every Presbytery. And so, Elders, I
know not how, should present to the livings. Which

Oh. IV.] ' THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 161
toucheth us all in our inheritances; and besides turn-
eth to our no small reproof, in that  we only
should be thought unworthy to continue our right.
 But yet, in this matter, Ave are further touched.
Here are orders set doAvn for the burthening of
every parish with one pastor, at least a doctor, two
deacons at the least, besides I know not how many
elders  But neither bill nor book do speak
one word with what livings, or hoAV, those officers
shall be maintained. Wherein there is a piece of
cunning used, supposing that plain dealing would
haA*e hindered their purpose. For indeed their
meaning is to draw from us, maugre our heads,
our impropriations. And if the spoil of the bishops
and cathedral churches -will not serve their turns,
they set down that we are bound to surrender our
abbey lands and such other possessions as have at
at any time belonged to the Church  For
the enriching* of themselves, they labor to impover
ish us  For mine own part, I have some
impropriations, and I thank God I keep them with
a good conscience.1
" Secondly, for the overthrow of the present state
of the clergy by their Presbyteries, especially arch
bishops and bishops, as being callings not agree
able to the Word of God, as the bill saith. I will
leave this to divines, being a matter without my
reach  This only do I judge : that hereby
a great indignity is offered to the honor of this
realm, in seeking to spoil the same of one essential
part of the second state, to alter the honor of our
1 Yet he Had just said, " Not one or how, those officers shall be main-
word do they say with what livings, tained."
VOL. in. 21

162 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. ' [Ch. IV.
Parliaments, and to bring it into a barbarous
equality. -- But thirdly, I find this Platform injurious to her
Majesty's supremacy, her strength, her person 
For although it be said therein that the sovereign
majesty is placed by God in highest authority under
him, over all persons and causes ecclesiastical and
civil, yet mark hoAV the book interpreteth itself. For
sooth, the dominion they speak of is this, — that the
sovereign must see and command the ordering of
them as God hath appointed in his word. He must
not make any himself by his ordinary authority, but
see others make them. Which is not sovereign au
thority in causes, but in persons.
" Again, Avhere this bill affirmeth that the guidance
of the Church is committed to the pastors, doctors,
and elders,  where it saith that the Presbytery
hath authority to choose, ordain, and displace all
ecclesiastical officers, to visit, to decide causes, to
appoint conferences and synods, — in the end what
is left to her Majesty ? 
" Now of the second point, — how it diminisheth
her Majesty's strength. In my conceit, her strength
standeth very much upon her revenues  Now
what a loss would her Highness sustain, if, as
bath been said, all her impropriations should be
taken from her ? and perchance her tenths and first-
fruits ?
" Lastly, touching her Majesty's person and safety.
I account it hereby greatly endangered, in that her
Highness is made subject to the Presbytery censures,
reprehensions, suspensions, and excommunications.
Which, though it be not precisely there named, yet

Cu. TV.} THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 163
I am sure none will deny it, sith it is so largely set
out in the Ecclesiastical Discipline. For who knows
how far they will proceed if her Majesty do disre
gard their excommunications ? Is it not, think you,
very well known what outrageous assertions are
made hereof in your chief Presbytery men's books ?
 Yes, indeed ! 1
¦" So as to conclude : I assure you, so far forth as
I am able to look into these matters, I think there
never was moved in a Parliament, and urged with
such importunity by those who would be reckoned
her Majesty's best-affected, most faithful, and most
dutiful subjects, a matter of greater inconvenience
nor mischief. For I pray you, Wherein differ these
men from the Papists ? The Pope denieth the su
premacy of princes. So, in effect, do these 
The Pope, where he entereth, doth abrogate all
such laws as any prince hath made in Church mat
ters to his dislike. And so would these men do
with all the laws, canons, constitutions, and orders
heretofore made in the Church." 2
We value this speech, maugre some of its ab
surdities ; for it is in some measure an analysis of
the Book of Discipline, and it also betrays the
worldly — perhaps we may say sordid — grounds
1 That is intimated here which I by the English Presbyterians, until
find plainly asserted elsewhere by I find evidence somewhat in pro-
their opponents, — that the Pres- portion to its monstrosity. The
byterians would have had the sov- whole subject of the Presbyterian
creign in such subjection to the theory of the relation of the prince
Church that, if excommunicated, to the Church, I intend to examine
' the people, might punish him, and hereafter.
that thereby he ceased to be their 2 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix,
king." So monstrous a doctrine I Book III. No. XXXI.
cannot believo to have been held

164 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV.
upon Avhich, in part at least, it was resisted. It is
/fhe only fragment which we have of the debate
( which followed the presentation of the Bill and
\J3ook. Yet it is evident that more had been said,
and in earnest too ; because this orator said that,
before his speech, the matter had been "urged
with importunity." Something, we think, must have
been said in the course of the debate which chal
lenged, or which categorically denied, the right of
the House to canvass such matters ; something of
the sort which provoked the following pungent
and characteristic episode from Mr. Wentworth.
On this same day (March 1st), he rose in his
place and said : " Mr. Speaker, I have here certain
Articles Avhich contain questions touching the liber
ties of this House. 1 desire that they may be read.
Inasmuch as all laws which concern God's glory,
and all such as concern the strength and protec
tion of our noble sovereign and this worthy realm,
are to be made by this Honorable Council, I, as
one moved by all dutiful love to set forward God's
glory, as also the wealth, strength, and safety of
our natural queen and common weal, do earnestly
desire to be satisfied of a feAV questions to be moved
by you, Mr. Speaker, concerning the liberty of
this Honorable Council. I find in myself a willing
mind to deliver unto this Honorable Assembly what
ever I have the simple talent to do, to gain to His
Highness honor and glory, and to show unto my
noble prince and commoiiAvealth true, faithful, and
dutiful service. Of the same mind, I am sure, Mr.
Speaker, are many godly, faithful, and true-hearted
gentlemen in this Honorable Assembly. Howbeit,

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 165
the want of knowledge and experience of the liber
ties of this Honorable Council doth hold and stay
us back. For, as we have a hearty desire to serve
God, her Majesty, and this noble realm, even so
are we fearful and loath to give or offer any offence
to her Majesty, or unto her laws ; the which we
presume we shall not do if we keep ourselves
within the circle of them. But then, no man can
observe that of which he is ignorant. Wherefore
I pray you, Mr. Speaker, eftsoons to move these
few questions by question ; whereby every one of
this House may knoAv how far he may proceed
in this Honorable Council in matters that concern
the glory of God and our true and loyal service
to our prince and state. For I am fully persuaded
that God cannot be honored, neither our noble
prince and Commonwealth be preserved or main
tained, without free speech and consultation of this
Honorable Council : both which consist upon the
liberties of this Honorable Council and the knowl
edge of them also. So here are the questions.
Mr. Speaker, I humbly and heartily beseech you
to give them a reading ; and God grant us true
and faithful hearts in answering of them ; for the
true, faithful, and hearty service of our God, our
prince, and our realm, will much consist hereafter
upon the answer, — for the which answer it be-
hooveth us to use wise, grave, and godly consid
erations. Therefore, the Lord direct our tongues,
that Ave may ansAver them even with his spirit ;
the spirit of wisdom, without which our wisdom is
nothing else but foolishness."
" Spare your motion, Mr. Wentworth, until her

166 THE PARLIAMENT OF 336-7. [Ch. IV.
Majesty's pleasure be further known touching the
Petition and Book lately delivered into the House."
" Nay, Mr. Speaker, I cannot be so satisfied. I
request that my Articles be read."
"I will examine them; and then do what seem
eth fit."
The Articles, or questions, were then passed to
Mr. Puckering, who coolly put them into his pocket,
and afterwards "showed them to Sir Thomas He-
neage, who so handled the matter that Mr. Went-
w*orth Avent to the Tower, and the questions were
not moved."1 We quote them, however, to show
(although, in this case, no prohibitory message had
been sent by the queen) how well Mr. Wentworth
had kept, in its spirit, his promise to his inquis
itors in 1576, — "If God forsake me not, I will
never during my life hold my tongue, if any mes
sage is sent wherein God is dishonored, the prince
imperilled, or the Liberties of the Parliament im
peached."2 But we quote them also for their in
trinsic worth.
"Whether this Council be not a place for any
member freely and without controlment of any
person or danger of laws, by bill or speech to
utter any of the griefs of this Commonwealth what
soever, touching the service of God, the safety of
the prince and this noble realm ?
" Whether that great honor may be done unto
God, and benefit and service unto the prince and
state, without free speech in this Council, Avhich
may be done with it ?
" Whether there be any Council which can make,
1 D'Ewes, 411. » Ante, Vol. H. 37.

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7, 167
add to, or diminish from, the laws of the realm,
but only this Council of Parliament?
"Whether it be not against the orders of this
Council to make any secret, or matter of weight,
which is here in hand, known to the prince or any
other,1 concerning the high service of God, prince,
or state, without the consent of this House ?
"Whether the Speaker, or any other, may in
terrupt any member of this Council in his speech
used in this House, tending to any of the fore-
named services ?
"Whether the Speaker may rise when he will,
any matter being propounded, Avithout the consent
of the House, or not ?
" Whether the Speaker may overrule the House
in any matter or cause there in question ; or
whether he is to be ruled or overruled in any
matter, or not ?
" Whether the prince and State can continue, stand,
and be maintained without this Council of Parlia
ment, not altering the government of the State?"2
1 The reader should remember ism, as well as his love of liberty,
that the Speaker had just been (for these two characters of such
summoned to the queen's presence, unequal merit arose and advanced
in consequence of Mr. Cope's pre- together,) the true forerunner of the
sentation of the bill and book ; and Hampdens, the Pyms, and the Hol-
that, without doubt, he had then lises who, in the next age, with less
revealed to her the doings in the courage because with less danger.
Commons House. rendered their principles so trium-
' D'Ewes, 411. phant." (Hume, III. 673 ; note T.)
" These questions of Mr. Went- I quote this with approbation ;
worth are curious, because they except to say, how strange that two
contain some faint dawn ofthe pres- characters, if of largely unequal
ent English Constitution, though merit, should have coalesced ; should
suddenly eclipsed by the arbitrary have arisen and advanced together ;
government of Elizabeth. Went- and should have continued like twin
worth was indeed, by his Puritan- brothers so long 1

168 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Cn. IV.
We can hardly suppose that Mr. Wentworth was
sent to the Tower merely for offering these ques
tions, which related purely to the- rights, privileges,
and decorum of a legislative and deliberative Coun
cil. HoAvever offensive they may have been, and
doubtless were, to the queen, we think that his
great sin in her eyes was urging the reading of
the bill and book, aggravated probably by some
bold speech in their behalf, — the same offences for
which four other members were committed.
Soon after his colloquy with the Speaker, the
latter Avas again summoned by her Majesty ; so
that -•' the House departed." 1
The next clay, Mr. Cope, who had introduced
the bill and book, and Mr. LeAvkenor, Mr. Hurles-
ton, and Mr. Bainbrigg, who had argued for their
reading, Avere summoned before the Privy Council
"and thence were sent to the ToAver."2
On Saturday, — March 4th, — " Sir John Higham
made a motion to the House for that divers good
and necessary members Avere taken from them,
that it Avould please them to be humble petition
ers to her Majesty for their restitution."
" If the gentlemen Avere committed for matter
within the compass of the privilege of this House,"
replied Mr. Vice-Chamberlain Hatton, "then there
might be a petition. But if not, we shall give occa
sion of her Majesty's further displeasure. It be my
advice, therefore, to stay until Ave hear more, which
cannot be long. I will say further touching the
book and petition, that her Majesty, for divers good
causes best knoAvn to herself, hath thought fit to
1 D'Ewes, 411. 2 Ibid.

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 169
suppress the same ; yet she conceiveth it very
unfit to give any account of her doings." x Never
theless, her Majesty did give an account of her
doings ; not indeed of her imprisoning the mem
bers, but of her disliking and suppressing of the
bill and book for which she imprisoned them. This
we shall soon show.
It is well to take notice that a certain measure
of timidity on the part of the Court was betrayed
by the queen's favorite. A supposition was resorted
to, to cover the arrest of the members ; a pretence
that they might have been arrested for something
that pertained not to the privileges of the House.
Indeed, this was uniformly done in like cases. The
Court shrank from avoAving honestly and openly,
what no one doubted, that the members had been
thus dealt Avith because they had broached matters
concerning the Church contrary to her Majesty's
repeated inhibitions. We think this fact indicates
that the old spirit of the Commons, so signally man
ifested in the year 1566, was not forgotten and
had not become extinct.
Here this matter rested until the thirteenth day
of March, Avhen, upon motion by Mr. Cronrwell, a
committee of nine, some of Avhom Avere stout
Puritans, were appointed to confer Avith those of
the Privy Council Avho were of the House, " con
cerning those gentlemen, members of this House,
lately committed to the ToAver."2 We have no in
formation of the result of this conference ; nor do
we find Avhen the offenders Avere set at liberty.
We are told that " the House were much in-
1 D'Ewes. 412. 2 Ibid., 415.
VOL. III. 22

170 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV.
timidated by the commitment of its members." 1
Not so much intimidated, however, that they had
not courage to resume the same discussion of
Church affairs which had induced the royal sever
ity. On the eighth day of March, Sir John Higham
" moved that it was fit to have the amendment
of some things whereunto ministers are required
to be SAvorn," — referring to the examination by
the oath ex officio mero ; " and that some good
course should be taken to have a learned minis
try." We see here the influence of the supplica
tion of the Puritan clergy. The result of this
motion was, that a committee, consisting of all the
PriA-y Council Avho were of the House, and twenty-
nine others, — containing a generous Puritan leaven,
— "were appointed to confer upon some reason
able motion to be made unto her Majesty for re
dress in these things."2 Though we find no further
mention of this matter on the Journal of the
House, there is reason enough to believe, not only
that this committee did address her Majesty, but
also that " these things " were considered to em
brace the whole matters embraced in the Bill and
Book which had been introduced by Mr. Cope, and
which had produced so much commotion. We
think so, because the queen was " addressed by
petition in behalf of this new model" and sent the
following answer to the House.
"Her Majesty is fully resolved, by her own read
ing and princely judgment, upon the truth of the
Reformation which we have already ; and mindeth
not now to begin to settle herself in causes of
1 Neal. I. 182 2 D'Ewes, 413.

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 171
religion  Her Majesty thinketh it very in
convenient and dangerous, while our enemies are
laboring to overthrow the religion established, that
we, by new disputations, should seem ourselves
to doubt thereof. Her Majesty hath fully consid
ered, not only of the exceptions that are made
against the present Eeformation, and doth find
them frivolous, but also the Platform that is de
sired, and accounteth it most prejudicial unto the
religion established, to her crown, to her govern
ment, and to her subjects. Her Majesty thinketh
that, though it were granted that some things were
amiss in the Church,  to make every day
new laws  (especially, touching religion) were
a means to breed great lightness in her subjects,
to nourish an unstayed humor in them, in still
seeking for exchanges  If anything were
amiss, it appertaineth to the clergy more properly
to see the same redressed  Her Majesty
takes your Petition herein to be against the pre
rogative of her crown. For, by their1 full con
sents, it hath been confirmed and enacted (as the
truth herein requireth) that the full power, author
ity, jurisdiction, and supremacy in Church causes,
which heretofore the Popes usurped and took to
themselves, should be united and annexed to the
Imperial Crown of this realm." 2
We have gleaned all Avhich we can find of the
Puritan movement during this session of Parlia
ment for Church reform ; enough, however, to sat
isfy us — contrary to the current testimony of his-
1 Whoso ? « Strype's Whitgift, 259, 260

172 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV.
torians — that neither the Puritan element nor the
Puritan spirit had yet abated in the popular branch.
The Journal is indeed barren, — we have had occa
sion to notice this before ; but from other sources
we have found enough to indicate that even more
was said and done and dared, in opposition to the
hierarchy and to the ecclesiastical pretensions of
the Crown, much more also in behalf of the op
pressed clergy and the famishing congregations,
than we have the means of A'erifying.
We cannot assent to the statement, that "the
Bill of the Puritans went to introduce a new dis
cipline, but not to abolish episcopacy."1 This was
true of the previous Parliament, Avhen the bill and
the book offered by Dr. Turner were refused by
the Commons ; but in this Parliament the bill and
the book (essentially the same as his) were read
and advocated. In this fact we recognize another;
that now the Commons sought, and avowed their
seeking, not only "to introduce a ne*v Discipline,"
but also "to abolish episcopacy." The evidence of
this we have recited ; first, in the Avords from the
Journal, that the bill provided " that all laws now
in force touching ecclesiastical government should
be void " ; again, in these words of the speech
which we haxe cited, "for the overthrow of the
present state of the clergy, by their Presbyteries,
especially Archbishops and Bishops, as being call
ings not agreeable to the Word of God, as the bill
saith"; and yet again, in the words delegated by
the queen herself, "the Platform that is desired she
accounteth most prejudicial unto the religion estab-
1 Neal. I. 180 ; editor's note.

Ch. IV] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 173
lished, to her crown, to her government, and to
her subjects."
We therefore concede to this House of Commons
as stern and manly a resolution for freedom of
speech as that which manifested itself in the mem
orable struggle of the year 1566, a more determined
spirit of ecclesiastical reform, and greater boldness
in urging it. We perceive in the queen also a def
erence to the temper of the Commons similar to that
which she then exhibited.
We confess further obtuseness. We can neither
appreciate the statement that "this bill offered to
the House was an insolent mutinous action in the
Puritan ministers," nor the statement, "it was no
wonder the queen should except from a general
pardon men so ready to oppose authority."1 We
cannot see how exercising the right of petition —
for the Puritan " ministers " Avere only petitioners
— can be termed " mutinous," however unreason
able the object ; nor how mere petition, or offer
of a bill in the regular course and form of legis
lation, deserves to be called " insolent " ; nor how
its offerers or its originators were in any sense
excepted as such from the royal act of a general
pardon. The act did indeed exclude from amnesty
offenders against the Ac.t of Uniformity, and against
the act to retain the queen's subjects in due obedi
ence, an act against Catholics. But only by the
first exception could either the Puritan petitioners
or the offerers and advocates of this bill have been
touched ; and then only by a forced construction so
1 Bishop AVarburton, Works, A*ol. Heylin's Hist, of Presb., Book VIH
XII. p. 382, London edit., 1811. Sec. 11.

174 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV.
far as their doings in Parliament were concerned.
But it Avas not a new thing to make these particular.
exceptions. The first had been made in just one
half the acts for a general pardon which had been
granted by the queen.1
Nineteen years had passed since Mary Queen of
Scots had been caged by her royal cousin of Eng
land. Nineteen years she had suffered all that a
high-minded Avoman could suffer from unmerited
restraint, and from a corroding sense of indignity
and wrong. State policy had proved too strong a
tempter to Elizabeth. She had rashly seized the
opportunity which a casualty had afforded, and had
held in her grasp a defeated queen Avho had fled to
her realm for refuge. This false step she had found
no way to retrace, much as she and her ministers
had afterwards desired it.2 She dared not undo
what she had done, lest the royal captive, freed,
might gather strength and assay a terrible revenge.
Thus, to ward off the consequences of her first rash
1 This exception was inserted in the Parliament, were concerned.
the acts for general pardon under But the words cut both ways. If to
the Parliaments of 1566, of 1580-1, establish Presbytery and impose its
and of 1584-5. Under the Par- discipline by Act of Parliament —
liaments of 1562-3, of 1571, and which was the only process proposed
of 1575-6, there was such an act, — was insufferable insolence, so also
but no such exception. Under the it was to establish Episcopacy and
Parliaments of 1572 and 1588-9 impose its discipline. More so ; be-
there was no such act. cause the discipline of Episcopacy
Bishop Warburton says more ex- was in the teeth of English law j
plicitly (p. 383), " A bill to establish and its liturgy, unlike that now pro-
themselves and impose the discipline posed, without liberty. Yet the
upon others, was an insufferable same vice pertained to each party.
insolence." Suppose this to be Each was for being established;
admitted ; and we do admit it, so each was for imposing its discipline
far as the nation, in distinction from a Ante, Vol. I. 420.

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 175
wrong, she had added wrong to wrong, doubled the
perils of her crown with each revolving year, forti
fied those growing perils by growing wrongs, until
no surety had been left her but the headsman and
the block. Thus the first step in sinful national
policy had impelled to a second, and thence onward,
until Elizabeth had come, in this one case, " to haul
iniquity as with cords of vanity, and to draw sin as
it were with a cart-rope." 1 Upon such is denounced
a woe. Bitterly did Elizabeth experience the woe ;
so bitterly, that we doubt whether it was not fully
commensurate with that which she inflicted. The
stroke of the axe was but a trifle. ' It conferred a
double boon. From the morning of Mary's cap
tivity to the first knowledge of her bloody release,
Elizabeth had not known a placid hour, save when
' the gayeties of her Court, the business of State, her
rural pastimes, or her dreamless sleep, had barred
out the thought of her captive kinswoman. Her
cankering consciousness of a great wrong-doing, her
carking anxiety lest accident might make the wrong
recoil, were bitter drugs in her cup of all these years.
"By the Eternal God!" exclaimed the Earl of
Leicester to Gilbert Talbot, when the Earl of Shrews
bury — Talbot's father — was Mary's keeper, " if
they could ever bring the queen to believe that
there were jars between them," — the Earl of
Shrewsbury and his Countess,2 — " she would be in
1 Isaiah v. 18. Mary. They continued, I know
2 Allusion has been made before not how long ; probably until death
to these "jars." {Ante, Vol. II. ended them. I find William Over-
145, note.) They probably fur- ton, Bishop of Litchfield and Coven-
nishcd one reason why the Earl was try, writing the following tart words,
relieved of the irksome custody of in the year 1590, to tho Earl of

176 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV.
such a fear as it would sooner be the cause of the
removing of my lord's charge than any other thing,
for I think A'erily she could ne\rer sleep quietly after
as long as that queen remained with them." Talbot,
in reciting this to his father, added : " And next it
troubleth the queen that you are not so well beloved
of your tenants as she Avould Avish, Avhich Avas the
cause of her late earnest letters." 1 This alone is
sufficient to show the constant and nervous disquiet
ude Avhich Elizabeth in an evil hour had entailed
upon herself during the long captivity of Mary.
-•' The trite adage, that guilt carries Avith it its own
punishment, was never better exemplified."2
Mary had been at rest six months. Her mutilated
remains had lain unhonored at Fotheringay Castle,
— save by the orisons and tears of her devoted ser
vants, — until the first day of August, when, with *
the ceremonial of a pompous state funeral, they
were removed thence and deposited in the choir of
the cathedral church of Peterborough.3
In the mean time Queen Elizabeth, whatever may
have been her self-reproaches, had come to experi
ence comparative tranquillity. She had no more
Shrewsbury, who was purposing a wives long ; for it is a common jest,
separation from his wife. yet true in some sense, that there is
" But some will say in your lord- but one shrew in all the world, and
ship's behalf, that the Countess is a every man hath her ; and so every
sharp and bitter shrew, and there- man might be rid of his wife, that
fore like enough to shorten your would be rid of a shrew." (Lodge,
life, if she should keep you company. III. 5.)
Indeed, my good lord, I have heard 'Lodge, n. 217; Talbot to
some say so ; but if shrewdness " — Shrewsbury, April 15, 1579.
shrewishness — "or sharpness may 2 Lodge, II. 217, note.
be a just cause of separation be- ' Twenty-five years afterwards
tween a man and wife, I think few they were removed by her son to
men in England would keep their AVestminster Abbey.

Ch. I V.J THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 177
reason to apprehend domestic disturbance in behalf
of one who had been translated to a better crown
than Scotland's, to a better inheritance than Eng
land's. Her Parliament had been dissolved for
months, and she was surrounded by. her Court in
their noontide splendor. It was about the middle
of August.1 Many of her nobles were with her in
the garden of her palace, her ladies in waiting, a few
of the dignitaries of the Church, a multitude of
others who had occasional access at Court, and the
presence was better furnished Avith armed guards
than before the discovery of Babington's conspiracy.
Every one was enjoying the luxury of a summer's day,
and if now and then a chance allusion was made to
the prospect of an invasion from Spain, it was not
in her hearing, nor did it mar any one's enjoyment,
for it was a theme which roused English blood to
anything under heaven but fear. It was an hour
Avhen her Majesty chose to exclude all cares of
State ; sacred to recreation and social pleasures ;
1 Lingard says (VIII. 266, note) and exercise." She says too much.
that the servants of Queen Mary, She alleges a degree of barbarity
who before her public obsequies had scarcely credible in a case so pecu-
becn " confined close prisoners at liar, — a barbarity strangely in con-
Fotheringay, were then dismissed ; trast to her own testimony, but a
and the natives of France repaired few lines above, where she has a
to London on their way to their different object in view, that these
own country, but were there de- same servants were most consider-
tained during a fortnight." Miss ately indulged, served with " the
Strickland, who I fear sometimes choicest of dainties and the best of
sacrifices accuracy to pathos (not wines, and kindly pressed to partake
to say prejudice), says that "they of their good cheer." I therefore
were detained at Fotheringay after reject her date about the release of
Mary's funeral nearly three months, these servants, and adopt Dr. Lin-
in the most rigorous captivity, bare- gard's, in fixing the time of what I
ly supplied with the necessaries of am about to state.
life, and denied the privileges of air
vol. ill. 23

178 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. [Ch. IV.
when the courtiers strove only who might minister
most to the taste and vanity of their sovereign, by
brilliant dialogue, gay repartee, and gallant flattery.
Such as w*ere not in immediate attendance upon her
person Avere strolling about the grounds, amusing
themselves in every way they might fancy, not
inconsistent with the decorum due to the royal
presence. Elizabeth was therefore in her best hu
mor, for she Avas ahvays happy in being surrounded
with happiness. In the midst of a merry reply to
some scintillation of wit, her words were cut short
by an outcry in a tone of alarm but a little way off.
With a frown upon her broAV she beheld one of her
stout guards in the act of pinioning a stranger of
courtly appearance but slender form, while other
guards Avere running thither.
" Ha ! who dares ! " exclaimed the queen. "See to
it, my Lord Chancellor, and tell us what this meaneth."
Hatton soon returned.1 " It is nothing which de
serves your Majesty's notice. Some fellow, who seem
eth to have no right here, hath excited suspicion."
" Nay, we will knoAv. Zounds ! man, speak ! "
"A fellow Avho hath more loaded dags about him
than befitteth so near approach to your Highness.
By chance he dropped one as he Avas approaching
your Grace, and was seized. The brightest light of
the world — "
" Ha ! stop them, Sir Christopher ; they are hur
rying him aAvay. Bid them bring him hither."
Two of the guards, followed closely by others,
led forward the prisoner.
* Hatton had been made Lord 742. Camden, 401. Life of Hat-
Chaneellor, April 29th, 1587. (Stow, ton, 463.)

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. 179
'- Who are you ? " said the queen, sternly.
" Marguerite Lambrun."
"Marguerite! Marguerite!" exclaimed her Majesty,
in astonishment.
-- Madam, I wear a beard," and she tore it from
her face, " and man's apparel, but I am a woman."
" Odds life ! My lords, is this a merry play ?
Your errand ? "
The prisoner's eyes filled.
" Hold, sirs ! " to the guard. -- Loose your hands.
An iron grasp is unmeet a woman's arm."
"Nay, madam," said Marguerite, and her lips
quivered, " I mind not a rough hand. What is the
pinching of an arm to me, lady, who carry a broken
heart ? "
Her streaming tears, her choking voice, left no
doubt of her inward grief) and all who heard or saw
— for a crowd had gathered — felt pity. Elizabeth
herself was touched.
" Who hath broken your heart ? " she said in a
milder tone.
-< Elizabeth of England."
The silence of the crowd, which had been almost
breathless, gave way to a general murmur and a
few indignant words.
" Hist ! we do greatly marvel at words so bold and
strange. Heard you ever, my lords, the like of the
queen of England ? "
u Sometimes," murmured Hatton, with a significant
gesture. Elizabeth smiled ; but instantly resumed, " Speak,
woman ! How might this thing be ? "
" Madam ; you have reft all that my heart did
love. How could it help breaking ? "

180 THE PARLIAMENT OF loiO-*' [Ch. IV
" What have avc taken ? Speak."
" My mistress, my queen, my chief-beloved, Mary
of Scotland. My husband, too. My all. Yes, lady ;
beggared and broken-hearted. You bid me speak
You bade me tell mine errand. I obey. For years, my
husband and myself had been honored in her service.
We Avere Avith her Avhen — Avhen — " She paused,
partly from emotion, partly because eA'en the queen's
cosmetics could not hide that her cheeks Avere paling.
" Madam, the horror of that scene Avas a dagger to
ray husband. I tried, I prayed, that the wound
might stanch ; but — but — lady, I am a widow.
I lost a royal mistress and a loving husband at
Fotheringay. I felt my heart-strings yield ; but I
voAved over both their coffins that I would live to
revenge both. I came here to fulfil my vow. A
few steps more, and I had succeeded. I have strug
gled hard against my purpose ; but in vain. Lady,
I have obeyed you."
By strong effort, Elizabeth had recovered her out-
Avard composure, even under such a tale ; and calmly
asked, " What think you is my duty upon the hear
ing of such a case ? "
" Do you put that question to me as a queen, or
as a judge ? " said Marguerite, respectfully.
" As a queen."
" Then you should grant me a pardon."
" But what assurance can you give me, that you
will not abuse my mercy and attempt my life again ?
Should I pardon, it should at least be upon con
dition to be safe from your murderous revenge in
future." '; Grace fettered by precautions, grace that hath
conditions, is no grace."

Ch. IV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1586-7. . 181
" By my faith ! my lords," said the queen, " thirty
years have I now reigned, and never before have
I found a person to read me so noble a lesson !
My good lords, shall I not bid her go ? "
Her courtiers, and especially they of her Coun
cil, remonstrated strongly. But the queen heeded
them little. After some little conference with them
apart, she turned to Marguerite.
" Are you not a Frenchwoman ? '.'
" I am."
" Whither would you, should I set you free ? "
" To my country and my kindred."
" By God's wounds ! I will pardon thee ; and
I do it without conditions. You shall have safe
and honorable conveyance to your own country.
My loyal guards, see that she is cared for."
Marguerite Lambrun gave the queen a look of
ineffable gratitude, and even of admiration ; for the
first time, rendered a mute obeisance; and, cover
ing her face, walked quietly away, followed by the
sympathies of all who had heard her sorrows ; by
the admiration of all who could appreciate the
heroism of her crime. It is superfluous to say, that
the queen's promise of safe conveyance was ful
filled.1 When Marguerite's pistol fell, as she was in the
act of arranging it for ready use, there was but a
step between Elizabeth and death. Probably noth
ing but feminine awkwardness saved her. It was
her most perilous moment, and her most wonderful
escape during her long and eventful reign. Had
she showed the like magnanimity towards the Queen
1 Dictionnairo Historique, Article Lambrun.

182 THE PARLIAMENT OF 15S6-7. [Ch. IV.
of Scots, the Briarean malice of half of Christen
dom might also have been disarmed ; and others,
better than Sixtus Quintus, would have exclaimed,
and in a different spirit, " What a glorious princess ! "
The world would have rung with her praises ; and
posterity — without a shudder — would have re
vered her name.

CHAPTEE V.
ANNUS MIRABILIS.
Martial Preparations in England. — The Spanish Armada. — Its Plan
of Operations. — Auxiliary Forces expected from France, the
Netherlands, and Heaven. — Motives and Purposes of Philip op
Spain. — Anxiety on the Continent. — The Spanish Fleet enters
the English Channel. — The First Skirmish. — The Naval Force of
England. — The Lord Admiral Effingham gives Chase and Fight. —
The Spaniards anchor at Calais. — Are dispersed by Fire-ships, and
attacked in Detail. — The Spaniards hold a Council of War, and
RESOLVE UPON A RETREAT THROUGH THE NORTHERN SeAS. — TlIEIR SUF
FERINGS and Disasters. — Only sixty Sail succeed in reaching Spain.
— The Mourning of the People. — The English Camp at Tilbury. —
The Queen's Speech there. — The Loyalty of the English Catholics.
— God the Victor. — Thanksgiving of the English. — The last Days
of the Eabl of Leicester. — His nous Epistles.
1588.
It had long been predicted by astrologers, in
various parts of the world, that the year of our
Lord 1588 would be a year of remarkable and
momentous events. By a Prussian seer it had been
more particularly announced, more than a hundred
years before, that a terrible fear would then pervade
the nations, and be immediately folloAved, either
by the destruction of the world, or by some great
event which Avould change the forms of government,
and bring great distress upon the people.1 " Whence
the astrologers fetched their intelligence hereof,
whether from heaven or hell, from other stars, or
from Lucifer alone, is uncertain. This is most sure,
1 Stow, 743, 749. Camden, 402. Birch, I 51, 52; Faunt to Bacon.

184 ANNUS MIRABLLIS. [Cu. V.
that this prediction, though hitting the mark, missed
the meaning." 1 So far as the apprehensions of men
Avere concerned, the prophecies wrought their own
fulfilment ; for the Christian Avorld, universally awed
by the pretensions and auguries of occult science,
" by reason of the aforesaid predictions, had stood at
gaze for divers years past, vehemently expecting
more strange and terrible alterations, both in impe
rial and regal estates, than ever happened since the
Avorld began." 2 God wrought the rest. In the year
specified he crippled the right arm of Papacy. He
paralyzed the secular poAver upon Avhose deA'otion
and strength Borne could most depend ; and since
she has found no champion to extend by force her
terrific despotism. Thus " the Governor among the
nations " opened a highAvay for civil and social pro
gress Avhich has been trodden by increasing multi
tudes to the present hour.
Early in the year 1588, England presented an
unusual appearance. Martial preparations were go
ing on, to a greater or less extent, in every county.
In almost every hamlet the forge of the armorer
was ringing Avith the sound of the anvil, and his
shop was glittering Avith lances, petronels, calivers,
muskets, corslets, bills, and halberds. Before the
month of June had closed, along the coast from
Land's-End to Dover, twenty-one thousand two hun
dred and seventy-tAvo men were equipped for Avar,
in readiness to be draAvn quickly together and placed
-- under leaders who had orders to join one another
as occasion should require." 3 In the month of July,
1 Fuller, Book IX. p. 192. 8 Rapin, H 135. Camden, 405.
' Stow, 743. Murdin, 612.

Ch. V.] ANNUS MTRABILIS. 185
thirty-four thousand and four hundred foot-soldiers
and nineteen hundred and fourteen cavalry were
detailed from the several counties, under command
of Lord Hunsdon. These were also furnished with
arms, and received orders, on the twenty-third day
of the month, to attend upon her Majesty's person
at St. James's ; ten thousand of them (Londoners) to
appear on that day ; the others to do the same on
different days, specified to each division, from the
sixth to the tenth days of August.1 There were also
enrolled a distinct corp of twenty-four hundred and
eighteen cavalry and twenty-seven thousand foot, "to
be drawn together to make an army  in June." 2
The command of these was committed to the Earl
of Leicester.3 From motives of policy and economy,
only fifteen thousand foot-soldiers, with their propor
tion of cavalry, were collected and marched to Til
bury, at the mouth of the Thames, where they took
position in an intrenched camp.4 The detachment

1 Murdin, C12, 613. Stow, 744. attendance upon her Majesty's pcr-
Wright, II. 375. Camden, 405. son was never wholly mustered, we
Strype's Annals, VI. 13, 14. cannot doubt that they were do-
Dr. Lingard says (VIII. 291), tailed, equipped, and ready for ser-
" that this army existed nowhere vice at any moment. But it would
but on paper." But her Majesty, seem, and upon good testimony,
in the latter part of June or early that this army was mustered in
in July, ordered its enrolment and part, though not encamped, " about
arming. (Strype's Annals, VI. 14.) London, at Strafford, East Ham,
Are wo to understand Dr. Lingard and tho villages thereabout." (Lei-
as affirming that tho queen's orders cester to tho queen, July 27th;
were not obeyed? If so, we can- Turner, 676, note, from Ellis.)
not credit him. The whole realm, 9 Murdin, 611.
and especially her nobility and Camden says (p. 405), " a thou-
oflicers, showed the greatest alac- sand horse and twenty-two thou-
rity upon this occasion ; ready even sand foot."
to exceed tho royal requisitions. * Stow, 744, 749.
Although this special army for 4 Ibid., 744.
vol. in. 21

186 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Ch. V.
moved thither with the greatest enthusiasm, was led
by experienced captains, and comprised many old
soldiers.1 All these military operations had been carried on
by orders of the queen to her lieutenants of the
counties, issued from time to time ; AA-hich " direc
tions were so Avell performed that she could not but
receive great contentment thereby." But on the
eighteenth day of June she issued to them neAV or
ders "for a larger proportion of furniture both for
horsemen and footmen."2 Soon after, she also called
upon her nobility " with all possible speed to furnish
armor and weapons meet for their calling, and for
their servants and able tenants that were not al
ready enrolled in general musters." 3 In the month
of May, the Archbishop of Canterbury, agreeable to
orders from the Council, had called upon the clergy
to contribute to the general armament ; directing
that " such ecclesiastics as had means should, as each
bishop should think fit to allot to every one, furnish
lances, light-horses, petronels on horseback, mus
kets, calivers, pikes, halberds, bills, or bows and
arrows."4 Such had been the measures taken by
the Court, Their result was, that throughout the
entire realm eighty-three thousand six hundred and
ninety-one men had been enrolled and armed.5
1 Stow, 744. dence in the tables in Murdin, pp.
2 Strype's Annals, VI. 534, 535 ; 594 - 605, showing the number of
Appendix, Book II. No. L. " men prepared for the defence of
3 The Lords of the Council to the the kingdom." They contain evi-
Nobility; Strype's Annals, VI. 13, dent typographical errors. For ex-
14, and AVright, II. 375. ample ; the number — incredible —
1 Strype's AVhitgift, 275; and of " able men" in Oxford county,
Appendix, Book III. No XXXVIII. as given on p. 597, was ninety-four
6 We may not place entire confi- thousand five hundred and sixty-

Ch. V.J ANNUS MIRABILIS. 187
Nor were the forces thus raised raw recruits. A
small proportion only had seen actual service ; yet,
" through the whole realm, of late years, directions
had been given for the mustering, arming, and train
ing of all persons " — the nobility excepted — " able
to bear armor,"  and " to be in readiness under
captains and leaders." 1 In London, particularly,
during the last three years, " the Gentlemen of the
Artillery Garden " so called — men who had had
military experience abroad — " once a week volun
tarily exercised themselves in practising all usual
points of war ; and every man by turn bare orderly
office, from the corporal to the captain. They also
trained up others for the ready use of war ; so as
within tAvo years there were almost three hundred
very sufficient and faithful to train and teach common
soldiers. Some of them this year had charge of men
in the great camp " — at Tilbury.2 By these means,
involuntary and voluntary, of the eighty-three thou
sand six hundred and ninety-one men furnished with
four. This error, however, is in- the number 80,875 ; that the total
dieated in the summary table on numberof"trainedmen"was46,847,
p. 608, where the number given is — whereas tho summary table gives
only four thousand five hundred the number 44,727. I may myself
and four. Again, in that summary have made some error in casting
table, the columns showing the men such an array of figures. But a
armed and the men trained are in- perfect estimate from the local tables
correctly cast. These are speci- could not bo relied upon absolutely ;
mens of errors. because we know not in how many
I have, therefore, gone over all instances typographical errors exist.
the local tables — tho tables which Any result must be considered only
state the number of men armed and an approximation to the truth.
trained in each county — with great * Tho Council to tho Nobility ;
care ; making my own summary. Strype's Annals, VI. 13, 14, and
I find as tho result, that the total Wright, II. 375.
number of" armed men "was 83,8 75, * Stow, 744.
— whereas the summary table gives

188 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Ch. V.
arms and armor, forty-six thousand eight hundred
and forty-seven had been Avell drilled in martial ex
ercises. No despicable army of English heart and
English blood, had they been called to fight on their
OAvn soil in defence of English hearths and English
altars.1 The cause of all this military stir became visible
on the tAA-entieth day of July,2 — a fleet just enter
ing the mouth of the English Channel,3 the largest
and most powerful that had ever been afloat.4 It
Avas the proud naval armament of Spain " bending
its course directly for Flanders," 5 intending to pass
close under the coast of France to avoid the naval
forces of England. Such had been the instructions
of Philip.6 It consisted of one hundred and eleven
large ships, accompanied by tAventy small ones, called
caravels, and by ten salves Avith six oars each. The
caravels and salves Avere merely tenders to the fleet.7
1 This will be seen by studying Appendix, No. LL, — a schedule
the tables in Murdin, pp. 594 - 605, published by authority in Spain.
and taking the second note on p. Nor, indeed, does the schedule it-
594 (of that collection) as a key. self, in its summary, agree with its
2 Camden, 411. Wright, II. 379 ; own statement of particulars. For
Sir Francis Drake to Lord Henry while this summary, whence our
Seymour. historians derive their statements,
3 Stow, 747. gives one hundred and thirty ships
4 Carte, III. 624. — exclusive ofthe thirty tenders —
' Stow, 746. as the whole number of the fleet, in
0 Lingard, VHL 299. Hume, going over its previous enumera-
III. 174. tions only one hundred and eleven
7 But Strype says (Annals VI. arc found of all classes, — galleons,
19) one hundred and thirty. So galleasses, galleys, ships, pinnaces,
says every other historian, except pataches, and zebres. The galleons
Lingard, who says " one hundred and were vessels " of greater size than
thirty-five men-of-war." Strype's any ever before used in Europe"
summary of the fleet does not tally (Hume, HI. 174); "'longer than
with the schedule from which he ordinary ships of war, with cannon
reckons, and which he gives in his on each flank and powerful batteries

Cn. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 189
The whole fleet carried twenty-six hundred and thir
ty great guns, nineteen thousand tAvo hundred and
ninety-five veteran soldiers officered by veterans,1
eight thousand four hundred and fifty mariners,
two thousand and eighty-eight galley-slaves, one hun
dred and twenty-four adventurers or volunteers, aaIio
had with them four hundred and fifty-six armed
servants. There were also one hundred and sixt}*-
seven cannoniers.2 But besides these weapons of
carnal warfare, the fleet was strong in a spiritual
equipment of one hundred and eighty priests, a tute
lary saint for each ship, and also a litany composed
expressly for the success of the expedition, and
having a distinct office for each day in the week.3
The aggregate measurement of the fleet was fifty-
seven thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight
tons.4 The Duke of Medina Sidonia5 expected to
be joined off the coast of Normandy by the Duke
on the prow and stern." (Lingard, there printed. (Strype's Annals,
Vm. 29"0, note.) Hume says there VI. 18.)
were nearly a hundred of them. 3 Strype's Annals, VI. 19. See
But the Spanish schedule specifies also ante, p. 150, note 3, for certain
seventy-three galleons and ships. It other equipments.
mentions galloons but twice ; in 4 Spanish Schedule.
one place saying " ten galleons " ; 6 " The moment the fleet was
in the other, " fourteen galleons and preparing to sail, the Marquis of
ships." So that the galleons could Santa Croce, the Admiral, was
not have exceeded twenty or twen- seized with a fever, of which he
ty-two. soon after died. The Vice- Admiral,
1 Camden, 402. by a strange concurrence of acci-
' The'Spanish Schedule ; Strype's dents, at the very same time suffered
Annals, VI, Appendix, No. LI. the same fate ; and the king ap-
This Schedule was already known pointed for Admiral the Duke of
in England. Philip had published Medina Sidonia, a nobleman oi
it in Spanish, Italian, Latin, Dutch, great family, but inexperienced in
and French, and it had been trans- action, and entirely unacquainted
lated into English in London, and with sea affairs." (Hume, III. 178,

190 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cn. V.
of Guise with an auxiliary force of twelve thousand
men. It Avas the Admiral's intention to proceed,
after having received these troops, to Flanders;
there to unite himself with the Duke of Parma,1
who a*A*aited him Avith thirty thousand foot-soldiers
and five thousand horsemen, — the most experienced
troops in Europe, — and three hundred and forty
transports fitted to run ashore upon a light draught
of Avater.2
The reader has doubtless anticipated in general
that this formidable fleet was designed for an attack
upon England. But there are some particulars of
King Philip's purposes which require statement.
The first object was to receive the forces of the
Guise, the second, to receive and convoy those of
the Duke of Parma, who had no ships, but only flat-
bottomed transports. The forces of Parma, united
to those of the Admiral, would amount to forty-nine
thousand men and five thousand horsemen, well
supplied with the munitions of war. Add to these
the tAvelve thousand soldiers of the Duke of Guise,
and we have a total of sixty-six thousand warriors
with whom the Admiral expected to effect a hostile
landing upon the English coast. The plan of the
enterprise was, that the Duke of Guise, under pro
tection of the fleet, should land upon the southern
coast in the counties of Hampshire and Devonshire,
to divert thither most of the English forces ; that
1 74.) Don Martino Ricaldo, of service, and whose brow had been
Cantabria, was appointed Vice-Ad- shaded with the laurels of numerous
miral. (Stow, 745.) " The Mar- victories." (Lingard, VIII. 290.)
quis of Santa Croce was an officer ' Stow, 746. Hume, III. 1 74.
who had grown gray in the naval 2 Stow, 745.

Ch. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 191
tlie Duke of Parma, with the rest of the soldiers,
should land in Kent or Essex, — probably at 'the
mouth of the Thames, — reserving, however, twelve
thousand men to effect a descent upon Yorkshire;
thus making invasions at three different points, and,
as nearly as possible, simultaneously.1
But the Court of Spain confidently anticipated
that the invading army would not be the only force
with which Elizabeth's soldiers must contend. They
believed that all the Catholics and other malcon
tents in England would co-operate with the Span
iards against the queen ; and that many others
would follow their example, who were Protestants
only upon compulsion, " either they or their fa
thers having been born and educated in the most
holy faith." 2
With all this force in hand and in prospect, and
assailing a people for the most part unused to war,
and enervated by long internal peace, Philip enter
tained not the least doubt of success ; and in the
pride of his confidence styled his fleet " The Invin
cible Armada."3 Yet, although the Spaniards had
full confidence in the sufficiency of their warlike
appointments, and believed that they had " more
expert captains than her Majesty had good soldiers,"
the invincibility of the Armada was alleged upon
more cogent reasons. Their victory was certain,
because the angel of God would so scare the here
tics that they would either desert to the Catholics
or run away ; because all the virtuous priests in the
world and all the saints in heaven were praying for
1 Stow, 746. ' Stow, 745.
* Ibid., 743. Strype's Annals, VI. 8-10

192 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cn.
the success of the expedition ; because man}- priests
were in the fleet to serve every man's spiritual ne
cessities, — to say nothing of saints' bones and Agni
Dei; because the king's forces Avere guarded Avith
all God's holy angels, with Christ himself in the
soA-ereign sacrament, and Avith the daily most holy
oblation of his OAvn dear body and blood. Having
these helps, Avhich her Majesty and her assistants
had not, they could not fail to conquer, even were
their numbers never so feAV, and their appointments
never so scant." x
The Spanish monarch had been incited to an
enterprise so stupendous and costly, partly that he
might revenge himself upon Elizabeth for injuries
done to his mercantile marine, and for her interfer
ence in the affairs of the Netherlands ; partly that he
might Avin for himself a glorious croAvn ; but above
all, that he might reclaim, " not England only, but
the Avhole isle of Great Britain, to the Church of
Rome." 2 It was his first ambition to be the cham
pion of the Catholic faith ; to defend its supremacy ;
to extend its domain ; to exterminate Protestants.
England was the stronghold of his enemy, the
stronghold of heresy ; her power and credit Avere its
chief support throughout the Christian world. Her
conquest and religious revolution Avould, therefore,
be the chief glory of his diadem ; for he might thus
force the whole of Christendom again to confess the
1 Fuller, Book IX. pp. 196, 197; the High and Mighty King Catho-
an abstract of " An Admonition to lie of Spain: By the Cardinal of
the Nobility and People of Eng- England; Anno MDLXXXVI1L"
land and Ireland concerning the See Lingard, VIII. 463. I shall
present Wars made for the Execu- soon describe this book.
tion of His Holiness's Sentence. By 2 Strype's Annals, VI. 20.

Ch. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 193
authority of the Papal See.1 His mission — a holy
crusade for the recovery of an apostate kingdom —
had the blessing of the Pope, the sanction and
prayers of the whole priesthood. It was to be
prosecuted Avith unsparing fidelity, by fire and sword
and fagot, upon all Avho should resist it ; for it had
been deliberately resolved, and upon the express
authority of the Vatican, that " the English nobil
ity and gentry should suffer confiscation, death, and
eternal damnation, except, instantly upon the land
ing of the Spaniards, they should join themselves,
with all their men, munition, and victuals, with the
Catholic army ;  that all men, of what degree
soever, Avho should aid, abet, defend, or acknowledge
Elizabeth  should but do so bootless to their
own present destruction and eternal shame ; 
that in the fury of the intended massacre there
should be as great care taken of every Catholic and
penitent person" — by implication, of such only —
" as possibly could be." 2 In short, no one who should
1 Strype's Annals, VI. 7, 8. upon a small broadside ; but was
Hume, III. 168. also destroyed. He tells us also,
! Fuller, Book IX. p. 196 ; "Ad- that tho "Admonition" was sub-
monition to the Nobility and People scribed, " From my lodging in the
of England and Ireland." Compare palace of St. Peter in Rome, this
Camden, 409. 28th day of April, 1588. The Car-
" This Tract was printed at Ant- dinal." Fuller says (Book IX. p.
werp, to bo distributed in England 197), "The Book goes under the
at the moment of the invasion. But name of Cardinal Allen, though the
the invasion did not take place, and secular priests say he was the cloak-
care was taken to burn almost all the father thereof, and that Persons
copies." (Lingard, VIII., Note L. p. the Jesuit made it." But whoever
463.) Its title and date I have given framed it, Cardinal Allen, by affix-
in note 1, on the preceding page, ing his signature, became respon-
Dr. Lingard adds (p. 466, note), sible for it. This Dr. Lingard ad-
thnt the substance of the " Admo- mits. The only specimens of it
nition," under another title, was which I have seen are the sketch
printed separately, for distribution, of a part by Fuller (which I have
VOL. III.

191

ANNUS MIRABILIS.

'Ch. V

resist the purposes of the crusaders in any way
should have the least hope of eternal sah'ation;
and no one excepting the arch-heretic Elizabeth
should ha\*e the least hope of his natural life. She
was to be held unharmed, and sent fortliAvith to
Pome, " that his Holiness might dispose of her person

used), and the sketch of another
part by Lingard, who discreetly
omits (he is often thus discreet) its
" breathing out of threatenings and
slaughter." Gee, in his introduc
tion to Persons's " Memorial of the
Reformation in England " (pp. xlix.,
Ii.), gives a slight notice of it, em
bracing some points not brought to
view by Fuller or Lingard. From
the Catholic historian, I cull the
following specimens of its discourse
about Queen Elizabeth. " She is
a bastard  She was intruded
by force  She is guilty of per
jury in violating her coronation
oath  She sells laws, licenses,
.... &c, for money and bribes, with
which she enriches her poor cousins
and favorites. Among the latter is
Leicester, whom she took up first to
serve her filthy lust  AVith the
aforesaid person, and with divers
others, she hath abused her body
against God's laws  She does
not marry because she cannot con
fine herself to one man  She
hath murdered bishops, priests, and
the Queen of Scots," &c, &c, &c.
Such a Tract received the signa
ture of a Cardinal ! Dr. Lingard is
pleased to compare it with libels
published against Elizabeth's sister
Mary by the exiles at Geneva.
The justice of the comparison may
be admitted whenever, from their
writings, language so foul is pro

duced ; and whenever it is shown
that John Stubbes called a prince
of France a son of the Devil. {Ante,
Vol. II. 144, note.) But, whether
the comparison is just or not, the
fact remains and the disgrace —
each unsoftened — that to this Tract
a chief dignitary of the Church of
Rome did not blush to subscribe
his name in the very palace of
St Peter.
I improve the opportunity af
forded by the mention of the Jesuit
Persons, to state that he has been
the means of great good in the
Protestant Church ; of sanctifying
and directing the energies of some
of her most eminent and useful
men ; of establishing a chain of
events immensely adverse to Po
pery, whose influences continue to
the present day, and have within
themselves the principle of perpe
tuity. Originally he was a Protestant,
and under Protestant influences.
(Ante, Vol. II. 198, note 2.) After
his apostasy he published a book,
which, although eminently papist
tical, contained some relics of hig
earlier faith. This book fell into
the hands of Edward Bunney,
a Puritan clergyman who died
in 1617. (Brook, II. 252, 253.)
The good things in this book he
gathered together, and threw the
bad away. Those selected he pub-

Ch. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 195
in sort as should please him!'1 Such was the strict
charge respecting her which the king of Spain had
enjoined upon his Admiral.
Before the close of the year 1587, the personal
apprehensions of continental Europe, excited by the
ancient prophecy Avhich Ave have mentioned, had
abated. The aspect of affairs seemed to indicate
that its fulfilment would be foreign to themselves.
Princes, and for the most part the people, blind to
the great results Avhich were destined to flow from
a local, and comparatively a small cause, saw, or
thought they saw, that England alone was to be the
theatre upon which the predicted drama Avas to
appear, and where its effects were to terminate.2
They well understood her peril. They knew how
little she was prepared to cope with the mammoth
fleet of Spain, with the gray-headed, war-worn sol-
lished. The reading of this book whose " Practical Christianity " has
excited to a religious life two men, passed through more than a hundred
who afterwards became non-con- editions ; has been circulated from
formist ministers, — Mr. Fowler and the Ganges to the Mississippi ; sol-
Mr. Michael Old. A tattered copy aced the last hours of Edmund
of it fell into the hands of Richard Burke ; gave to Legh Richmond
Baxter, and roused him to spiritual his first perceptions of the Gospel
life and to that course which re- as a system of spiritual truth ; and
suited in his eminent usefulness, wrought in Thomas Chalmers " a
One of Baxter's works wrought the great revolution in all his opinions
like effects upon Philip Doddridge, about Christianity." I am indebted
whose influence ramified beyond for this series of facts to the New
the possibility of calculation through York Observer of May 10th, 1860,
his preaching, through those whom and to the personal courtesy of the
he trained for the ministry, through editors for their confirmation, which
his " Expositor " and his " Rise and appears in another number of their
Progress " ; which latter work has paper.
stamped its lasting impress upon ' Strype's Annals, VI., Appen-
tens of thousands in England, Hoi- dix, Book II. No. LVII. ; Paper
land, Denmark, and even in pagan sent from Rome to Lord Burleigh.
lands. One of these many thou- a Stow, 743. Birch, I. 51, 52.
•ands was William Wilberforce,

1 96 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Ch. V.
diers of Philip, Parma, and the Cuise. The crisis,
they Avell kneAV, irA-olved infinitely more than the
slaughter of men, the subjection of a nation, and
the riflino- of a croAvn. The freedom of God's Word,
the ascendency of spiritual darkness and despotism,
— these Avere the stakes. This Avas the great fact
which engrossed the thoughts of all Avho Avatched
from afar the coming conflict, and of all Avho had
girded on the sword. For the issue all true Protes
tants stood breathlessly Avaiting, or uttering only
the breath of prayer. Perceiving that the fate of
the English Church Avas w*avering in the balance,
and that the turning of the beam Avould decide their
OAvn religious future, and believing that England must
be crushed unless a mightier than man should inter
fere, Avith unAvonted earnestness they made their
appeals to God. None of them could render other
help but Scotland and the Netherlands. The latter
furnished ships.1 Scotland was timid and wavering.2
On the twenty-first day of July the swelling flota
of Spain had fairly entered the English Channel.
As they passed sloAvly but steadily along, expanding
in the form of a crescent to an extent of seven
miles,3 Avith a fair wind and crowded sail, their prows
and turrets looming loftily above the sea, their aspect
and movement were grand and imposing. Their
bulk, their ill-construction, and their unskilful man-
1 Stow, 744. Rapin, II. 136. weal was involved in the impend-
Hume, III. 171. ing contest is certain. Yet I can-
2 Lingard, A*III. 293. not doubt that they felt a paramount
Dr. Lingard and Stow both con- interest in it as a religious contest,
sider the motives of the Low Coun- and as one involving their own re
tries to have been purely secular ligious freedom.
and selfish. That their political 3 Stow, 747. Camden, 411.

Ch. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 197
agement made them sail heavily, but with a port
the more impressive and majestic. The sea was
open before them. Not an enemy appeared ;
not a sail, to parley or to scud away ; not a sound,
to challenge or to give alarm. All this seemed
to import that England had become craven, that
her heart had sunk. Had her navy skulked away?
Would the lion be bearded without a roar? Would
the victory be Avon without a blow ? Still they
passed oiiAvard. They passed the harbor of Ply
mouth. English ships of Avar lay there. The Span
iard kneAV it, but supposed them unmanned and laid
up, because his coming was no longer expected.1
Another omen of easy victory. Still nothing was
seen but the sky and the shore and the expanse of
Avater ; nothing heard but the voice of command,
the call from ship to ship, the stroke of oars, and the
dash of spray. Still they moved onward. When
Plymouth had been left well astern, a single sail
darted from her harbor, turned her head eastward,
and looked as if wondering Avho were passing yon
der. Then came out another, and another, and yet
others. They were little things — cockboats — in
comparison with the royal ships and galeasses at
Avhich they seemed to gaze. They crowded sail and
scudded toAvards the strangers, whom they Ave re fast
overhauling, as if to get a nearer view of a display
so magnificent, — and this Avas indeed their object.
They did not plough the water like the grand
Armada, but glided along with ease and speed.
When near astern the pride of Spain, they dis
persed and shot about hither and thither, still nearer,
1 Hume, III. 175.

198 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Ch. V.
yet at a respectful distance. At length they did
their errand from the heretic queen, opening a brisk
and telling fire upon the intruders. The message
was ansAvered in kind. But while the English rarely
lost a shot upon vessels of such size, to strike their
smaller ones required sharper marksmen than the
Spanish cannoneers;1 and while a clumsy Spaniard
Avas turning his head to run down upon his assailant,
the nimble Englishman had tacked and scud, still
keeping his huge mark before him, and still keeping
up his unerring and galling fire. The skirmish con
tinued two hours.2 Yet no considerable loss was
sustained on either side,3 for it was only the opening
of the ball, — an English prelude, a fancy test of
the Spaniard's seamanship and mettle. This accom
plished, the English Admiral drew off, for night was
at hand and he chose to unite his ships, several of
which he had been unable to clear from Plymouth.4
On the nineteenth day of the month the Spanish
fleet had first been seen about sunset off Lizard
Point, by a Scottish rover, who as soon as possible
had given information to the Lord Admiral Charles
Howard, Baron of Effingham.6 The Admiral had
1 Hume, HI. 176. naval expeditions, until the acces-
2 Stow, 747. sion of Elizabeth. In 1559, when
8 Lingard, VIII. 299. but twenty-three years of age, he
4 Stow, 747. was sent by the queen to compli-
B Ibid. Camden, 411. Hume, ment Charles IX. of France upon
III. 175. his accession to the throne. In
Charles Howard, the eldest son 1568, he served as General of the
of Lord AVilliam Howard, Baron of Horse against the rebels of tho
Effingham, was born in 1536. The North ; and was afterwards made
father was made Lord High Ad- Chamberlain of the queen's house-
miral in the first year of Queen hold, and elected Knight of the
Mary. He died in 1573. The son Garter. On the fourth day of July,
served under the father in several 1585, he was raised to the post of

Ch. v.] annus mtrabilis. 199
instantly despatched Sir Edward Hoby to her Ma-
•jesty informing her of the fact, and urging an
immediate reinforcement of the fleet. The mes
sage had no sooner reached the Court, than several
of the nobility and gentry, with all alacrity and
enthusiasm, put to sea from various harbors, in ves
sels which themselves had provided, and soon joined
the Admiral.1
Effingham's first object, after having sent off Sir
Edward, had been to get his ships doAvn the sound
to a point where he might bide his time for putting
to sea. But a stiff breeze setting flush up the sound
had rendered the movement impossible, except by
main strength. But his seamen had sprung to their
oars with right good-Avill, and by using the utmost
diligence had tugged most of the vessels into proper
position during the tAventieth day of the month.
Lord High Admiral. (Stow, 709.) cil of able seamen." What was the
Yet Wright says (II. 275, note), precise amount of Effingham's naval
that " on the death of his father, in experience after Elizabeth's acces-
1573, he succeeded to the office of sion, I do not know. But that the
Lord High Admiral." In 1596, ho queen, when her crown, her people,
commanded in chief at sea in tho her religion, and her person were at
expedition against Spain. For his stake, and against such odds, should
wisdom and success in this affair, have committed the chief defence
and for his tact in resisting the of all to an incompetent man, not
Armada, he was rewarded with the her special favorito, is not to be
dignity and title of Earl of Notting- supposed. Nor is it to be supposed
ham, in 1697. In 1599, the queen that the Lord Howard's naval ex-
intrusted to him tho sole and su- perienee was specially deficient ;
prcnio command of her navy and of then we consider that he had served
her army, with the title of "Lord in "several naval expeditions" be-
Lieutenant General of all Eng- fore he was twenty-two years of
land." (Stow, 788. Biog. Britan- age, and had performed that ser-
nica.) He was a Catholic. (Nares, vice under the eye and tuition of a
III. 333.) father who was himself Lord High
Lingard (VIII. 292) speaks of Admiral.
him as one " whose want of naval 1 Stow, 747. Hume, III. 176.
experience was supplied by a coun-

200 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cn. V.
From this point on the next day the Armada had
been seen, but the Admiral had chosen to let it pass,
that he might have the advantage of the Avind and
of a rear attack.1
The royal navy in number and tonnage was very
far inferior to that of Spain. The queen's ships and
pinnaces numbered only thirty-eight,2 and feAV of
them exceeded four hundred tons burden. But tlie
loyal zeal of the subjects went far to supply tlie
naval poverty of the prince. When the Council
had inquired of the city of London Avhat mear.s
they Avould furnish for the common defence, they
had been asked in turn what her Majesty considered
requisite. The Council replied, '¦ Five thousand men
and fifteen ships." " We pledge you ten thousand
men and thirty ships," Avas their response. In the
sequel, they provided and sent out thirty-eight ships,3
besides " readily " furnishing a loan of forty-nine
thousand pounds.4 When her Majesty had thought
it expedient — "having always found her good and
loving subjects most ready upon like occasion to
furnish her by way of loan of some convenient por
tions of money — to have recourse unto them in
like manner at this present,"5 the Avants of the
royal exchequer had been cheerfully met by a
prompt response to the royal call.6 The nobility
and gentry had provided and equipped forty-three
ships at their own charge, and these, as well as the
London ships, were now spreading every inch of
canvas to meet the crisis, and Avere quickly ranged
1 Carte, III. 626. 4 Strype's Annals, VI 15.
5 Murdin, 619. 5 AVright, II. 361.
3 Stow, 744. Murdin, 617. • Hume, III. 171.

Cn. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 201
under the flag of Effingham, or under that of Sir
Francis Drake. These facts are true indices of the
spirit Avhich pervaded the Avhole kingdom. By these
means the English fleet now numbered two hundred
and one vessels, great and small.1 Of these, fifty-
eight Avere merely coasters and small craft for the
transport of supplies, leaving only one hundred and
forty-three which might be called vessels of Avar.
But only t*vo of the hundred and forty-three meas
ured a thousand tons. Of nine hundred tons, there
was one ; of eight hundred, there Avere tAvo ; of
six hundred, three ; of from five hundred tons to
tAvo hundred, there were forty-tAvo ; and the rest
measured from one hundred and eighty to thirty
tons.2 The aggregate measurement Avas fifteen
thousand one hundred and fifty-six tons ; small in
deed compared with the Spanish measurement of
fifty-seven thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight
tons. Again, on board the English fleet Avere but
twelve thousand eight hundred and seventy-six men,3
to compete Avith tAventy-eight thousand four hundred
and ninety-two fighting men on board the Spanish
fleet. An immense disparity of force, surely ! We
have no means of ascertaining the number of guns
carried by the English.
Satisfied Avith his first experiment, Effingham ef-
1 There is a typographical error are the names of three ships given
in Murdin (p. 618) in tho tabular whoso measurement is stated at
summary of vessels, making them nine hundred tons each. Nor can
one hundred and ninety-one, in- we better trust the tables showing
stead of two hundred and one. tho number of men in the English
' Murdin, 615- 618. navy; for these tables also show
Yot this estimate, also, is only an some numerical errors.
approximation; for on p. 619 of * Murdin, 615 - 618.
Murdin is another table, in which
vor.. iu. 26

202 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Ch. V.
fected a junction with that portion of his fleet Avhich
he had left in port, and the next day resumed the
chase. He overhauled and attacked the Spaniards
at evening. The engagement, Avhich Avas hot and
close, continued until daybreak, sometimes Avithin
musket-shot, sometimes Avithin grappling distance,
until blood spouted from the scuppers of the enemy.
One of their large ships took fire and Avas "con
sumed to the loAver deck, under Avhich lay store of
gunpowder." The Lord Thomas Howard, with a
detachment of his gallant sailors, mounted the burn
ing AA-reck, subdued the flames, and, themselves half
suffocated, rescued many of the creAV, piteously
scorched. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished
before it could touch the magazine. A galleon,
having lost her foremast, yielded, after an obstinate
fight, and afforded a rich plunder of fifty-five thou
sand ducats, besides plate and jewels.1 Partly be
cause of calms, and partly for want of poAvder, — for
Avhich he Avas obliged to send ashore,2 — the English
Admiral effected little else for a few days except
galling the enemy at intervals and taking a Portu
guese galleon.3
At the close of the day — July the 27th — the
Spanish fleet came to anchor at Calais, and their
English persecutors, like watchdogs, took up a sta
tion in their front.4 For two days nothing tran
spired except that Effingham was joined by the ships
which had so promptly moved at his summons
through Sir Edward Hoby.5
1 Stow, 747, 748. Carte, III. 627. 4 Stow, 748. Camden, 414.
" Ibid. ' Rapin, II. 136.
* Ibid. Hume, HI.- 116.

Ch. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 203
The twenty-ninth night of the month settled down
upon the hostile fleets Avhich for tAvo days had eyed
each other in sullen silence. In the dead of the
night a gush of light suddenly appeared a little AAray
in front of the Spanish line. Then it faded as if
obscured by smoke. The next moment it re-ap
peared and shot upward. Then came another, and
still others, until eight, but a little way apart, could
be seen flashing, rising, falling. Each was in mo
tion before the wind and toward the invading fleet.
Each quickly became a vigorous flame, leaping
upwards and advancing. Each enlarged, each be
came a hundred jets of flame, and each plunged
along. From the first flash, but a feAV minutes had
passed when eight ships Avere revealed by the light
of their own fire. Soon the flames not only loomed
from their decks and jetted from their portholes, but
ran down and licked their sides from stem to stern,
until each hulk was wrapped in fire as Avith a mantle.
And the eight burning masses dashed on, heading
upon the fleet anchored fast in the roadstead, and
burning more fiercely at every bound. The sea
around was dazzling ; the heavens glared save where
smoke columns intervened. The two fleets and the
city became visible. It Avas the funeral pyre of the
Spanish expedition. As soon as the character and
course of the conflagration Avere revealed, — Avhich
was very soon, — loud cries and shrieks were heard
from the threatened fleet. The sailors shouted in ter
ror, "The fire of Antwerp!" "The fire of AntAverp!"1
1 Not long before, to destroy the combustible which burned tena-
bridgo at Antwerp, certain craft ciously and with groat fury, and
were set afloat filled with a peculiar terminated by explosion. Stow

204 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cu. V.
and officers and priests shared their fright. The
tutelary saints were irn'oked ; rosaries fumbled ; and
men ran about making the sign of the cross. All
was confusion on board that proud and defiant Ar
mada. One after another the ships cut cable, hoisted
sail, and fled, each one as it could, and each crew
half distraught. They were never reunited.1
Tlie next day the English set upon them whereA-er
they could be found. A large galleass, AA-hich had
grounded under the Avails of Calais, Avhen attacked
made a gallant defence, and surrendered only after
her commander had been slain, and most of her sol
diers and seamen lay dead and dying upon her decks.
The greater part of the scattered fleet collected at
Gravelines, where they were attacked by the English
in full force. The action commenced at four o'clock
in the morning, and was sustained Avith great vigor
until six o'clock in the evening. A dozen or four
teen of the best Spanish ships, including tAvo galle
ons, Avere sunk or run ashore. Many others were
greatly damaged. The floating remnant of the fleet
were driven by the wind toAA-ards the shoals of Zea
land, in great danger of running aground. The

calls it "wild-fire." It may have themselves assailed by the same
been something like the noted mysterious invention ; whereas the
Greek fire ; a terrific composition fire-ships sent down upon them by
of olden time. These floats made the English — though dangerous
great havoc, and their fame had enough — were filled with ordinary
spread far. The mysterious nature combustibles and smeared with tar,
of the " wild-fire " had added to the pitch, &c. (Stow, 748. Carte, IIL
teiTor of its name; and probably C2S. Hume, HI. 176. Lingard,
its power and prowess had been VIII. 300.)
much exaggerated by rumor and ' Stow, 784. Camden, 415. Ra-
by the imagination of a superstitious pin, II. 136. Carte, IH. 628. Hume,
people. The Spaniards fancied IH. 176.

Ch. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 205
English seeing this, and not choosing to encounter
the same peril, gave over the chase.1
The Spanish Admiral could now rally only about
eighty sail, and many of these were seriously dam
aged. By a change of wind, he was fortunately
enabled to get clear of the sands upon Avhich he
had been drifting. He called a council of Avar, by
which it was decided that to effect a junction Avith
the Duke of Parma, to prosecute further their mis
sion with so few and so disabled forces, or to return
through the English Channel, would be equally im
practicable. They therefore came to the desperate
resolution of seeking Spain around the north of
Scotland and Ireland. Accordingly, on the next
day; they commenced their retreat. Some of their
ships had already escaped in the same direction.2
The Lord Admiral HoAvard, leaving part of his
force to watch the coast of Flanders, Avhere the
Duke of Parma was fretting, gave chase with the
rest of his fleet. The Duke of Medina was dis
heartened. He had the greatest dread of the
stormy northern passage, especially as he Avas igno
rant of its navigation ; and Avhen he found himself
followed by his persecutors, he Avould have struck
his flag, believing the grasp of a generous enemy
rather to be chosen than the pitiless tempests of a
northern sea. He Avas right. The event proved
it. But the priests, and especially his confessor,
interfered. They so far dissuaded him, that he re
solved to fly colors so long as he was not attacked.
1 Stow, 748. Camden, 415. Ra- • Camden, 41C. Rapin, II. 137.
pin, II. 136, 137. Carte, III 618. Carte IU. 628. Lingard, XW.
Hume, III. 176. Lingard, VIII. 301. 301.

206 ANNUS MIRABILIS. 1Ch- v-
He was not attacked, for the English, through
the shameful "negligence of the officers in supply-
ino- them," Avere short of ammunition. This only
saved the remnant of the Armada from the neces
sity of surrendering at discretion. When they had
passed the Frith of Forth, the Lord HoAvard re
solved upon an attack. But, tAvo hours before the
time fixed, he discovered to his chagrin that he had
not half enough ammunition to sustain an action.
He therefore left the Armada to its fortune and re
turned to the Doavus.1
A heavy gale arose that night, which the trim ships
of England rode out at anchor. But the Spanish
ships, weakened by the brunt of fight, and rendered
anchorless at Calais, suffered extremity. They went
nortlward to the sixtieth degree of latitude, passing
betAveen the Orkney Isles and the Shetland. The
gallants of sunny Spain, and even the hardier sol
diers and sailors, sunk under the effects of cold and
toilsome navigation. They died daily by scores.
Storms arose. The fleet Avas dispersed. Seventeen
ships foundered at sea or were Avrecked upon the
northern and Avestern coasts of Ireland. Thousands
of corpses lay Aveltering in the depth of waters, or
strewed the shores of Christiansand and Bergenhuss,
of the Orkneys and Hebrides, of Ulster, Connaught,
and Munster.2 A shivering, staggering band of six
hundred managed to get on shore among the wild
Irish of the extreme north, between Lough Foyle
and Lough Swilly. By order of the Earl of Tyrone
1 Rapin, II. 137. Carte, III. 028, 2 Strype's Annals, VI., Appen-
629. Hume, III. 177. Lingard, dix, Nos. [LIL] and LIU. Carte,
VHI. 301. III. 629.

Ch, V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 207
they were attacked, defended themselves as Avell as
they could in their weakness, until their lieutenant
and twenty more were shot down, when they surren
dered, were sent to London, and lodged in Bridewell.1
A company of seven hundred set foot in Scotland,
where Avhen they hungered they Avere fed, when
they thirsted there was given them to drink. After
wards, with Queen Elizabeth's consent, they were
transported to Flanders and rendered to the Duke
of Parma.2 Thus, of five thousand three hundred
and ninety-four men lost to the service of Spain on
this northern passage, only tAvelve hundred and se\T-
enty-nine were saved alive. Twenty-one were shot,
four thousand and ninety-four perished at sea. In
the naval engagements fifteen ships had been lost,
with four thousand seven hundred and ninety-one
men, making a total loss of thirty-two ships,3 and
ten thousand one hundred and eighty-five men ; 4 a
statement which corresponds, in round numbers, Avith
that of the Spanish Admiral at the close of his voy
age.5 The English had lost but one hundred men 6
and one small vessel.7
1 Strype's Annals, VI. 22, 23, 542. that the Irish, wild as they were,
Rapin says, " All who were ship- lifted a finger against these forlorn
wrecked in Ireland and cast ashoro and suffering men.
were put to the sword or perished ' Rapin, II. 137.
by the hands of the executioner " ; 3 This summary — which I have
a culpable, because a criminating, taken from the Papers in Strype —
instanco of carqlcss reading. He is only of the largest vessels ; ships,
refers for his authority to Strype, galleons, and galleasses. No ac-
whoso statement is only what I count is given of caravels, pin-
havo given. Carte also makes the naces, galleys, &c.
caso worse than it was, alleging * Strype's Annals, VI., Appen-
that " all who got ashoro in Ire- dix, No. LIII.
land were cut in pieces, either by ' Lingard, VIII. 302.
tho Irish or tho Lord Deputy." • Echard, 871.
There is not a particle of evidence ' Hume, III. 1 76,

208 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cn. V.
The strained and shattered remnant of the fleet,
with a reduced number of seamen in each ship, and
they disheartened by misfortunes and Aveakened
by hardship and short allowance, Avere tempest-tost
in every direction off the southwest coast of Ireland
so late as the 10th of September. It Avas even
then a dark question Avhether they Avould be able to
make a Spanish harbor.1 But at length they reached
the port of Santandre,2 on the northern shore of
Spain, counting only sixty sail,3 the soldiers and sail
ors exhausted by hardship, terror, and famine. But
a little Avhile before, elated by the rumor of glorious
success, of Elizabeth's capture, of her transfer to
Borne, and her barefooted suit for absolution, Spain
had rung with paeans.4 Noav the whole peninsula
was draped in sackcloth, boAA'ed down Avith mourn
ing, vocal with lamentation. There Avas not a family
of note, perhaps we might say not one among the
humblest plebeians, that was not bereaved. It was
there as it "was in that doleful night Avhen " there
Avas a great cry in Egypt." To heighten the uni
versal gloom, the gaunt soldiers and sailors Avent
about like spectres, telling Avild weird tales of Eng
lish fighters and northern seas.5
The officers said that the issue would have been
1 Strype's Annals, VI. 542, 543. day came other news ; and the too
2 Lingard, VHL 302. sanguine Spaniard found himself
3 Stow, 748. importuned by waggish pages of the
* Ibid., 747. other faction, that he would inter-
When Don Bernardo Mendoza, cede for them with the Duke of
then in Paris, heard that the fleet Parma for a few trifling gifts of
had anchored under the walls of some small towns and villages, —
Calais, he could not contain himself; such as London, Canterbury, York,
but rushed into the " Church of Our &e. Mendoza hid himself. (Stow,
Lady " with his rapier drawn, shout- 748 )
ing "Victory! victory!" The next 6 Hume, III. 177.

Ch. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 209
successful, had they not been tied to instructions,
without liberty to vary according to circumstances ;
that otherwise they should have turned upon and
crushed the moiety of the English fleet by which
they were first attacked.1
When the truth was made known to Philip, he was
in his chapel. Swearing a great oath, he exclaimed,
"In this contest I will consume my crown to the
value of that candlestick," pointing to one upon the
altar. " I will push this war to such an extreme that
England shall become tributary to Spain, or Spain to
England.2 Such was the inglorious termination of this armed
crusade. " Let not him that girdeth on his harness
boast himself as he that putteth it off." 3
Queen Elizabeth had expressed a purpose to meet
the enemy in person at the head of her troops should
they effect a landing. To this the Earl of Leicester
strenuously objected, and rightly ; urging that, how
ever the tide of battle might turn, a chance fatality
to the sovereign — especially as the succession Avas
undetermined — would insure success to the invaders.
1 Carte, III. 629. known. Strype — fromwhomHume
Hume adds, rather gratuitously, seems to have taken his cue — only
that "tho priests, at a loss to ac- says (Annals, VI. 27), "Philip's
count for tho victory gained by ex- priests could have told him " so.
communicated heretics, at last dis- ' Strype's Annals, VI. 26.
covered that all tho calamities of I reject Camden's statement (p.
tho Spaniards had proceeded from 418), that he took it patiently, and
their allowing the infidel Moors to thanked God that it was no worse ;
live among them." Possibly they and for the same reason that Strype
did say so " at last." But I do not does.
find that they were quick-witted ' 1 Kings, xx. 11. Tlie parallel
enough to trump up this solution between the two cases is remark-
when the catastrophe was first able throughout.
VOL. m. 27

210 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cu. V
Yet he Avas Avilling and desirous, " that in some sort
so princely and so rare magnanimity should appear
to her people and to the Avorld as it Avas." He
therefore suggested that her Maiestv should visit
Tilbury " to survey the camp and forts for t*vo or
three days," for the sake also of inspiriting the army
and the nation at large.1
About a fortnight afterwards, it Avas announced in
the camp that her Majesty was about to make her
appearance. The soldiers, fall of loyal enthusiasm,
were arrayed for her reception, and Avhen she rode
within the lines, in company with their general,
riding a milk-Avhite horse, a simultaneous shout and
a peal of trumpets announced her welcome. As she
rode through the ranks, her martial bearing and
cheerful countenance dreAV forth successive plaudits,
but Avhen Avith a regal gesture she signified her pur
pose to speak, every sound was hushed.2
" My loving people : We have been persuaded by
some that are careful of our safety to take heed how
we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear
of treachery. But I assure you I do not desire to
live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let
tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that,
under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and
safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-Avill of my
subjects ; and therefore I am come amongst you at
this time, not as for my recreation and disport, but
being resolved in the midst and heat of battle to
live or die among you all, to lay doAvn for my God,
1 Leicester to the Queen, July 2 Camden, 416. Stow, 749. Lin-
27th; Turner, 676, notes. From gard, VIII. 303.
Ellis's Collection.

Ch. V.J ANNUS MIRABILIS. 21 1
and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honor
and my blood in the dust.
-- 1 know I have the body but of a weak and fee
ble woman. But I have the heart and stomach of a
king, and of a king of England too ; and think foul
scorn that Parma, or Spain, or any prince of Europe,
should dare to invade the borders of my realm, to
which, rather than any dishonor shall groAV by me,
I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your
general, judge, and reAvarder of every one of your
virtues in the field.
-- 1 know already, for your forwardness you haA'e
deserved rewards and croAvns, and we do assure you
on the word of a prince they shall be duly paid you.
In the mean time my lieutenant>general shall be in
my stead, than Avhom never prince commanded a
more noble or worthy subject, not doubting but by
your obedience to your general, by your concord
in the camp, and your valor in the field, we shall
shortly have a famous victory over those enemies
of God, of my kingdoms, and of my people."
The queen's visit Avas a pleasant episode. It re
lieved the tedium of life in camp. Officers and
soldiers, nobles, gentry, and commoners, acknoAvl-
edged its inspiring influence. For two or three
days she passed to and fro among the soldiery Avith
a kind look for all, and here and there Avith cheering
salutations. She received the compliments of her
captains Avith that royal grace for which she was
distinguished. By a kind Avord or a smile, by a Avell-
turned pleasantry or a family reminiscence, she kin
dled to most intense fervor the personal devotion of
those who kissed her hand. There Avas no lack of

212 ANNUS MIRABILIS. tCH. V.
loyalty in the camp before, or of patriotism, or of
martial spirit. But by her presence and princely
courtesies, she sanctified and rejuvenated all these
moral forces as if by magic ; and the more, Avhen
she proudly declared that the intense affection of
her people was her sufficient buhvark. When she
retired to her house at HaA-ering, " We Avill die for
our queen ! " was the sentiment of every heart.
True, the Spanish forces Avere at this time in full
retreat. It is true also that their passage northAvard
was known. But it Avas not knoAvn, or supposed, that
they had abandoned their enterprise ; othenvise, the
queen's speech Avould have been an unmasked farce.
The prevailing opinion then Avas, that this north
ward movement Avas a feint, intended, it might be, to
throw the country off its guard, and that the enemy
would soon return to attempt a landing.1 Some,
however, were jealous — and it was not without a
reason — that the. Duke of Medina was sure of a
shelter and a welcome from the trimming king who
wore the Scottish croAvn, and would thus effect an
easy passage from Edinburgh to the TAveed.2
1 Camden, 416. did Queen Elizabeth ever have a
2 Rapin, H 137. Nares, III. 339. speech prepared for her ''
These facts are a sufficient com- So strong was the apprehension
ment upon the following passage, that the Spanish Admiral would
and upon its covert sneer. " The operate through Scotland, and with
danger was now over  The the king's consent, that the Lord
speech said to have been spoken by Ashby, Elizabeth's ambassador there,
her at Tilbury might have been sought to buy for his mistress the
prepared for her as an address to good offices of James to counteract
the soldiers, if it had been necessary, the supposed plan of Medina. For
But she certainly could not exhort this purpose he " offered him the
them to fight, after the enemy had title of a Duke in England, a yearly
gone, and when she had resolved pension of five thousand pounds,
to disband her army immediately." a guard to be maintained at the
(Lingard, VIII. 303, note.) When queen's charge, and some othei

Cn. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 213
In this connection there is one topic "which we
may not overskip." We have before stated that
many Catholics denied the power of the Pope to
cancel the obligations of a people to their sovereign,
and that many of those in England holding that
opinion also held firmly to their allegiance, in face
of the Papal bulls of deposition against their queen.
Others — such as Campion, Persons, Throckmorton,
Parry, Babington, and his associates, — held a con
trary doctrine, and considered Elizabeth queen only
de facto. Such Avere chiefly — we think altogether
— of the Jesuitical school. Their 'numbers were
greatly overstated, probably, by the Jesuit priests.
Certainly they were, Avhen it was said that aU the
Catholics in England favored the invasion of the
country and the dethronement of Elizabeth.1 Nor
can Ave receive Avithout serious abatement the state
ment of Ballard that foreign aid alone was wanting
to secure a formidable insurrection. Mendoza him
self Avas so far incredulous of his assurances, as to
demand proof of their grounds.2 But notAvithstand-
ing the general loyalty of the English Catholics,
there Avere so many, and knoAvn to be so many, of
the Jesuitical faction, that the whole Catholic popu
lation were suspected by over-jealous minds. When,
therefore, it became knoAvn that Spain was upon the
eve of her nefarious errand, it was importunately
urged upon Elizabeth that these intestine foes were
more to be feared than the foreign ; that therefore
she should folloAV the example of her sire Avhen in
like circumstances, and dispose of the more promi-
matters." (Rapin, H. 137, note. ' Strype's Annals, V. 603.
Camden, 417) * Ante, p. 89.

214 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Ch V
nent of her Catholic subjects under some specious
pretence, either by banishment or the block. She
rejected this counsel, not only because she thought it
both inhuman and impolitic, but because she had
confidence in the loyalty of the great mass of her
Catholic subjects, notwithstanding the sufferings
they had endured under her government. At the
same time, considering that there Avere grounds for
this cautionary counsel, she had adopted a measure
sufficiently prudential, but less exceptionable and
offensive. By her direction, her Council had issued
orders to the lieutenants of the shires to lodge in
safe hold such Catholics as were most noted for their
recusancy, and to commit others less obstinate, and
men of conventional importance, to the custody of
ecclesiastics and other loyal gentry, to be so far
restrained as to preclude their correspondence Avith
their religious sympathizers at home or abroad.
This order had been obeyed so far as prudence
seemed to require, but none of the chief Catholics
had been molested.1 A few gentlemen had been
sent to the palace of the Bishop of Ely, where they
had the range of the Bishop's extensive grounds, and
were no further restrained.2
The confidence of the queen in her Catholic sub
jects was not misplaced. They were as forward and
zealous to furnish arms and money, to fight against
the invaders, to defend the person of the queen,
as were the Protestants. In this cause, the whole
realm appeared " as with one heart and one body."3
Catholic gentry volunteered service in the navy and
1 Wright, II. 359 ; Order of the 2 Harleian Miscellany, I. 143.
Council. Camden, 406. Rapin, II. s Ibid., 142.
136.

Ch. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 215
in the army, "desirous to take their fortune Avith
the common soldiers." Some equipped ships at their
own charge, yielding them to Protestant command.
Some roused and equipped their tenants for the com
mon defence.1 " They were no less unwilling than
the rest to see their native country in subjection
to the ordinary cruelty found among strangers."2
Even those confined to the episcopal domain of Ely
lacked not patriotic ardor, but wrote to the Coun
cil offering to stand in the fore-front of battle "to
defend their undoubted sovereign lady and queen
against all foreign forces, though sent by the Pope or
his command." 3
We have had occasion to mention Anthony BroAvn,
Lord Viscount Montague, a zealous Catholic, the
only temporal peer who opposed the Act of Suprem
acy Avhen propounded in the House of Lords, and
that not only by his vote, but by a sharp, urgent,
bold speech.4 We have mentioned him also as the
first informant to the queen herself of the first Cath
olic plot against her life.6 Time had not abated his
loyalty. With a gallant troop of horse, commanded
by himself, his son, and his grandson, he appeared at
the rendezvous at Tilbury, thus staking his OAvn old
blood and hoary head, the blood and heads of his
Avhole house, in the service of his queen and coun
try.0 It should be remembered, also, that to a knoAvn
Catholic the queen intrusted the command of her
fleet, the chief bulwark of her dominions. Eight
gallantly did he fulfil his trust.
1 Stow, 747. Hume III. 173. * Ante, Vol. I. 146.
' Osborne, 45. ' Ibid., 277, note 3.
" Harleian Miscellany, I. 142, • Osborne, 45, note. Butler, H.
143. 11.

216 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cn. V.
We dismiss the topic by quoting with enthusiasm
the graphic words of England's most profound histo
rian, — just now gone, in a full old age, to "sleep
Avith his fathers." " In that memorable year, when
the dark cloud gathered around our coasts, when
Europe stood by in fearful suspense to behold what
should be the result of that great cast in the game
of human politics,  in that agony of the Prot
estant faith and English name, the Catholics stood
the trial of their spirits without swerving from their
allegiance. It was then that in every county they
repaired to the standard of the lord-lieutenant, im
ploring that they might not be suspected of barter
ing the national independence for their religion
itself."1 In reA-ieAving the history of this Spanish expedi
tion, some of the less prominent facts are to us the
most impressive. They indicate the operation of
Him " who worketh all things after the counsel of
his own will." England was the chief sanctuary
of the oracles of God. Philip sought to rifle the
sanctuary and seal up the oracles. England was the
chief bulwark of the Protestant faith, whose vital
breath Avas drawn from the Bible. Philip aimed at
her destruction. Elizabeth was " the chiefest protec-
trix" of that faith and that. Bible. Philip thought
to carry her away captiA'e. He Avas warring against
a kingdom greater than England's ; against a Sov
ereign greater than Elizabeth. In his initial move
ment he was met. He " Avho holdeth king's hearts
in his hand, who turneth them as the rivers of wa
ters whithersoever he will," 2 turned his counsel into
1 Hallam, 101. 2 Prov. xxi. 1.

Ch. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 217
foolishness. Mistaking bulk for power, he built
ships unfit to weather storms, to effect a landing, or
to execute the evolutions of a naval conflict, project
ed a plan of procedure to which, insanely because
rigidly, he bound his officers, and, impressed Avith
the " invincibility " of his force and the infallibility
of his plan, scorned to provide the troops of Parma
with means to move at will. He was demented by
his own pride. He emasculated his giant resources
by his OAvn decrees. A slave to the royal instruc
tions, his Admiral dared not attack the fleet in Ply
mouth.1 The formidable force of Parma Avas impo
tent to act its part, because tied fast at Newport and
Dunkirk. The skilled veteran first destined to com
mand the fleet Avas struck down by death. So also
was his lieutenant. Hence delay,2 ahvays the bane
of military movements, especially of such as involve
combinations. With inferior officers the fleet set
sail, was scattered and shattered by a storm, and
again delayed.3 In the Avhole, tAvo months Avere lost.
The Duke of Guise, hearing of their disaster, after
long Avaiting doubted that they Avould come this
year, and disbanded his soldiers.4 Thus, by the
lameness of his preparations, and by casualties in
volving delays, the two Avings of Philip's armament
were lopped. The huge- body floundered on, passiA-e
to the Avill of its master, only to be battered and
shorn by its nimble tormentors, to be scared and
riven by a floating conflagration, to be chased till
out of breath and out of heart, to be torn piecemeal
by Avind and sea when left to itself and to God.
1 Lingard, VIII. 299. « Ibid. Lingard, VHL 298.
* Hume, III. 174. • Stow, 746.
VOL. m. 28

218 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Ch. V.
The English navy really did but little toAvard the
great result, though it did that little Avell. The King
of kings Avas England's protector. The Cod of bat-
ties Avas the victor. He " Avho poureth contempt
upon princes and Aveakeneth the strength of the
mighty, Avho taketh aAvay the heart of the chief
people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in
a Avilderness Avhere there is no Avay," * abandoned the
monarch of Spain to the counsel of his pride, struck
doAvn his most able commanders, hindered the pro
gress of his fleet, dispersed the army of the Guise,
pinioned the Duke of Parma, smote Medina with
fear and fatuity and his mariners hip and thigh, and
spake to the ocean to sAvalloAV up his ships. In all
these events we recognize the intervention of God.
For the salvation of England He fought as obvi
ously as for that of Samaria from the countless hosts
of Benhadad.
So thought England. " The kingdom was filled
Avith a sense of gratitude to God' for this toonder-
ful deliverance." 2 While Philip sAvore and fumed
and kicked against the pricks, Elizabeth acknowl
edged the Most High. While his people were
sitting in ashes, hers sang hymns of praise. At
a Avord from the queen,3 the realm Avas vocal
Avith thanksgiving. " Neither our own SAvord, nor
our oavii arm, did save us, but thy right hand and
thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because
thou hadst a favor unto us ; thou hast saved us from
our enemies, and hast put to shame them that hated
us," — was the anthem which England sung.4
1 Job xii. 21, 24. Ps. cvii. 40. " Rapin, II. 137.
2 Strype's Annals, VI. 27. 4 Stow, 750. 751.

Cn. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 219
A public tribute was rendered by the queen herself,
and Avith all the pomp becoming royalty. On Sun
day, the twenty-fourth day of November, there stood
before the entrance of Somerset House a splendid
chariot, fashioned like a throne, and surmounted by a
canopy which Avas emblazoned with the arms of Eng
land. Milk-white horses Avere harnessed to it, richly
caparisoned. Before it was a brilliant cavalcade, —
the Privy Council, the nobility, the prelates, the
judges, the French ambassador. On either side of it,
the footmen and pensioners of the queen, — so re
markable for their stature, symmetry, and unblem
ished persons. Immediately in the rear, seated upon
a horse and holding her Majesty's horse of state, Avas
the young and gallant Earl of Essex;1 behind him,
and also on horseback, a resplendent train, the ladies
of honor, on either side of whom stood the royal
guard. These arrangements made, her Majesty Avas
conducted from the door of the mansion to her char
iot. The heralds gave the signal, the trumpets sound
ed, and the magnificent procession moved toAvard
the city, amid cries of " God save the Queen ! " from
the tens of thousands who thronged the Avay. The
Lord Mayor and Aldermen, in their scarlet robes,
welcomed her Highness at the Temple Bar, whence
1 Ho was made Master of her any horses, footmen, or pages be-
Majesty's Horse in June, 1587, when longing to the stables. At any
tho Earl of Leicester, who had held solemn cavalcade, ho rides next the
tho offico since the queen's acces- royal coach, with a led horse of
sion, was made Lord Steward, state. He is the third great officer
(Stow, 743. Birch, I. 74.) of the royal household, the Lord
The Master of the Horso has Steward and the Lord Chamberlain
entire control of the royal stables ; having precedence. The office is
of I heir revenues, animals, and scr- of high account, and is always
vitoi-s of every grade and craft, bestowed upon some great noble-
He only has the privilege of using man. (Jacob's Law Dictionary.)

220 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cn. V.
she proceeded through streets hung Avith blue cloth,
and lined by the '-Companies" of the city, in their
respective liveries and Avith their several banners,
until she alighted at St. Paul's. There she Avas
receiA7ed and escorted within by fifty of the cler
gy, or more, in their richest robes, folloAved by her
royal cortege and by a throng of citizens and gentry.
The bustle of entrance and arrangement over, the
assembly subsided to a breathless silence. Then
the Queen of England advanced to the chancel,
kneeled alone, and acknoAvledged Avith mute devo
tion the salvation which God had Avrought for her
self and her people. Then folloAved appropriate re
ligious services, comprising a sermon by the Bishop
of Salisbury, " Avherein the glory Avas given to God
alone" In the evening, after dining at the palace of
the Bishop of London, her Majesty returned, as be
fore, to Somerset House, but under the blaze of a
thousand torches.1
Thus did England and England's queen do homage
to the Lord of Hosts for their deliverance.
Soon after the camp at Tilbury had been broken
up, the Earl of Leicester had paid his addresses to
her Majesty at her house at Havering, and thence
had accompanied her to London, but had immedi
ately retired to his neighboring seat in Wanstead.
Here he brooded aAvhile over a bitter disappoint
ment. The queen in her address at Tilbury had
spoken of him as her lieutenant>general, by which
title she signified that she had invested him with
unlimited authority over her kingdoms of England
1 Stow, 751. Camden, 418. Echard, 872.

Ch. V] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 221
and Ireland, for the exercise of which he was re
sponsible to none but herself. So far as her inten
tions and declarations extended, she had indeed done
so. The letters patent to that effect had also been
drawn, and lacked only the royal signature and seal.
At this juncture, the Lord Chancellor Hatton and
the Lord Treasurer Burleigh had interfered, remon
strating solemnly against the delegation to any
subject of a poAver almost equal to that of the sov
ereign. They had succeeded, and the panting am
bition of the Earl Avas clipped, just as he was ready
for the last and highest flight.1
He had also domestic disquietude. Once infamous
for his heartless gallantries, he had of late years
become remarkably uxorious.2 But hardly had this
change occurred, Avhen he Avas stung by the suspicion
that the measure Avhich he had meted was being meas
ured to him again ; that his own marriage-bed was
held no more sacred than he had held the marriage-
beds of others. When he returned from the Loav
Countries in November, 1586,3 he fancied that there
were undue familiarities between his Countess and
Sir Christopher Blount, the gentleman of his horse.
That a passion existed between them is unquestion-
ble. Without betraying his jealousy, he had taken
Sir Christopher Avith him upon his return to the
Netherlands in the following June,4 and there at
tempted his assassination by a hired ruffian. Sir
Christopher was fearfully Avounded, but recovered.
Neither he nor the Countess doubted whence the
1 Carte, m. 029. Hume, III. • Stow, 741.
674, Note X. Lingard, VIII. 304. ' Ibid., 743.
' Camden, 419.

222 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cu. V.
Woav had come, or for what cause, so that the inci
dent only served to strengthen their mutual loA'e.
The barb still rankled in Leicester's breast, yet he
sustained the manner of a trusting and doting hus
band. When his Avrath toAvard Hatton and Bur
leigh had been cooled by his considerate seclusion
at Wanstead, he left there Avith his Countess on the
twenty-sixth day of August, as nearly as we can
ascertain, and proceeded that day to Maidenhead,
tAventy-six miles from London, on the way to his
castle of Kenilworth.1 This movement Avas, appar
ently, upon a sudden impulse. But the Lady Let-
tice believed it premeditated. She remembered the
attempt upon Sir Christopher, and her suspicions
were excited by this journey undertaken Avithout
apparent reason. Knowing Avell the story of a cer
tain tragedy having occurred in Berkshire twenty-
seven years and fifty weeks before, she feared lest
the complement of the tAventy-eighth year Avould
witness a like one at Kenihvorth. Like her lord,
hoAvever, she suppressed all signs of her inward dis
turbance, and so successfully, that he believed he
was taking an unsuspicious victim to her doom.
Such were the ominous relations of this husband
and wife AA-hen they left Essex for Wanvickshire
with every show of mutual good-will. At Maiden
head, the Earl Avrote to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh
on the next clay, soliciting a favor for one of his
friends, courteously apologizing for having failed to
take leave of his lordship, and adding that he hoped
soon to see him at Court.2 On the twenty-eighth
of the month he proceeded twenty-six miles farther,
' Strype's Annals, VI. 124. 2 Ibid., 123, 124.

Ch. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 223
and the next day, after a ride of ten miles, arrived
at Cornbury Park, near the royal villa at Woodstock.
He was gloomy and someAvhat testy, for Avhich he
accounted to his Countess by cursing those who had
thwarted him at Court. In this mood he had no
relish for anything but the pleasures of the table,
and, with every delicacy before him, which the most
obsequious caterers could provide, he gave himself
up to indulgence. His Countess left him over his
wines, and retired to her apartment. Here she pon
dered long and gloomily upon the prospect before
her, revolving a thousand schemes to baffle the sus
pected purpose of her lord.
With a mind so engrossed, time sped fast. But at
length, recurring to things present, she began to
wonder that she had not been summoned to resume
her journey. Soon after, through one of her ladies,
she received a different summons. The Earl had
been suddenly seized Avith illness, and required her
presence. With the alacrity of a devoted Avife she
was immediately at his bedside, Avhere she found him
prostrated by acute distress. William Haynes, for
merly his lordship's page, but noAv a gentleman of his
bedchamber, Avas in attendance. She Avas received
cordially, and entered at once upon many little of
fices of kindness Avhich might minister to his relief
The Earl Avas suffering merely from oA'er-indulgence,
a susceptibility to its influence having been superin
duced by tlie mental disturbances Avhich we have
mentioned and by the harassments incident to a
camp life. His medicines were administered to him
by his chamberlain, but he found little or no relief.
Days passed and his sickness continued. In the

221 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cn- V.
mean time his Countess was assiduous in her atten
tions when within his chamber, and in deep, gloomy,
desperate conference Avith herself Avhen alone. The
fourth da}* of September arrived Avithout relief to
the Earl. On that day he received a cordial from
her own hands and in presence of Haynes, — for
her affectionate ways had Avon her loi d's confidence.
But in a few hours afterwards, Bobert, Earl of Leices
ter, was numbered with the dead.1 That last po
tion was a deadly one — ': deliberated and resolved
upon to despatch the Earl," by Blount and the
Countess. She had long sought an opportunity,
but until noAv she had not found it.2
We are not distinctly sustained in this narrative of
Leicester's death by any accredited historian. Yet
we have giA-en it, and with confidence, for reasons
which Ave submit.
We cannot admit the usual statements, that " his
disease was occasioned by cold rheums";3 that "he
died of a fever caught on his way to Kenil worth ; " 4
and that " he died of a continual fever " ; 5 for, on his
way to Cornbury Park he was " very well" and the
letter which he wrote from Maidenhead sufficiently
indicates this. " His death was sudden " ; ° a fact
which precludes the idea of a fever.
The unknown writer from whom we have taken
our account of Leicester's jealousy and death gives
his authority, to wit, " Mr. William Haynes, who pro-
1 Camden, 419. Stow, 750. Ra- * Strype's Annals, VI. 123.
pin, II. 137. Strype's Annals, XL * Carte, III. 629. AVright, H.
123. Murdin, 746. 393, note.
- AA'ood's Athenae, H. 74, 75, note. 5 Camden, 419.
Campbell's '¦ Lives of the Chan- ° Strype's Annals, VI. 124.
cellors,"IL 146.

Cn. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 225
tested he saw the Countess give that fatal cup to the
Earl Avhich was his last draught, and an end of his
plot against her, and of his journey, and of himself."
A person penning a malicious libel, involving matters
of fact, will rarely if ever venture upon particulars ;
much less will he venture to give names of eye
witnesses.1 The writer's account is corroborated, to a degree,
by the singular fact of the marriage of Sir Chris
topher Blount and Leicester's widow in less than
a year after the Earl's decease.2
Another corroborating fact. Men doubted at th°.
time whether the Earl AA*as the victim of natural dis
ease. So grave were these doubts, that even the
Privy Council made the affair a matter of special
inquest. Such an examination — although it pointed
not to poison but to magic — presupposed the death
to have been caused by criminal means. Had it been
clearly the result of fever, — the Earl AAras visited
briefly by one of the queen's physicians,3 — there
would have been no such suspicions and no in
quest.4 1 Prefixed to ono edition of " Lei- says, that Leicester died at Corn-
eester's Commonwealth " was a po- bury', " as it is suggested, by that
em entitled " Leicester's Ghost." poison which he had prepared for
To a manuscript copy of this poem others, wherein they report him a
was a supplement. This supple- fair artist." (The Phenix, I. 193.)
ment was by tho writer whose ac- In the very caution of this language
count of tho Earl's death I have I think there is much significance.
adopted ; and, if I mistake not, it Sir Robert's real opinion seems to
contained tho account itself. Sir be indicated.
Robert Naunton is the only reliable s Birch, I. 55, 56 ; Francis Allen
writer with whom I meet who inti- to Anthony Bacon, Aug. 17, 1589.
mates that Leicester was poisoned. Ibid., 74.
Naunton's language is guarded ; • Strype's Annals, VI. 615.
because when he wrote the Countess * Ibid., 124, 125; and Appendix,
Lottico was still living. He only Book II. No. LXXII.
VOL. m. 29

226 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cn. V.
" In his life he greatly advanced the glory of God.
His death is a great loss to the whole land, lamented
by the best sort," x — are the only good Avords for Lei
cester, penned after his death, Avhich Ave have found.
In such Avords from one peer to another, Ave recognize
only the rant dialect of the Court, They prove noth
ing, they mean nothing, having no more value than
the good Avords of a funeral oration or a neAvspaper
obituary. The tree is knoAvn by its fruits. Leicester
had the queen's' favor ; the poAver of office, patronage,
and Avealth ; the means of advancing or blasting
others at his will. London was swayed by his crea
tures. The ToAver Avas in his hands. He was a patron
of learning and of the clergy ; 2 " free and bountiful
to soldiers and students ; a most accomplished cour
tier " ; Avinning in his Avays tOAvards those Avhom he
chose to A**in ; and stealthily but surely undermining
those whom he chose to ruin.3 Such a man would
surely be commended by those who spake of him
openly. Yet, in his OAvn day, most people spake ill
of him Avhen they uttered their thought in private ;
and the only abatement Avhich could be made of the
libels against him Avas, that they Avere " not without
mixture of some untruths."4 On our pages, Ave have
not only laid at his door misdeeds Avhich indicate a
heart void of principle, abandoned to courtly vice,
and unscrupulous of crime, but Ave think Ave have
given sufficient evidence to sustain our Avords, and
to substantiate the most prominent charges made
by his contemporaries. That Elizabeth so long and
1 Lord North to Lord Burleigh, 3 Camden, 419.
Sept. 9, 1588 ; AVright, II. 393. * Ibid., 419, 420.
2 Lloyd, 519-521.

Ch. V.J ANNUS MIRABILIS. 227
with such constancy should have conferred such dis
tinction upon such a man, only shows that she was
one of the thousands of princes from whom infamous
behavior has been concealed ; or who have cared not
for it, when captivated by a fair exterior and blinded
by their own partialities. " The extraordinary share
of her Majesty's favor which he enjoyed from the
beginning of her reign till his death,  was less
owing to the qualities of his mind, than to the ad
vantages of his person and address ; for he was the
most obnoxious in his private character of all who
were employed by her, and suspected on good grounds
of the most shocking crimes, Avhich he affected to
conceal under high pretensions to piety." x
We have already given trifling specimens of his
-- religious style or phrase " ; 2 but Ave take the lib
erty to quote two remarkable letters of his, " fuller
of the strains of devotion." 3 We do this, not only
to give material for a more complete portrait of the
man, but also to illustrate that fair religious discourse
can come from the pen of a knave or a profligate,
and therefore is no proof of godliness. This truth
has an important bearing upon subsequent history.
By the Countess Lettice the Earl had one son,
Robert, Baron of Denbigh, Avho died at Wanstead in
July, 1584.4 Hatton Avrote a letter of condolence,5
to which Leicester sent the folloAving reply.
'- Mr. Vice-Chamberlain, I do most heartily thank
you for your careful and most godly advice at this
time  I must confess I have received many
1 Birch, T. 6. * Sidney State Papers, I. G9.
* Ante, Vol. I. 256, 263. • Life of Hatton, p. 381.
' Naur ton ; in the Phcnix, 1. 193.

228 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Ch. V.
afflictions Avithin these few years, but not a greater
next to her Majesty's displeasure ; and, if it pleased
God, I would the sacrifice of this poor innocent
might satisfy ; I mean not toAvards God, (for all are
sinful and most wretched in his sight, and therefore
he sent a most innocent lamb to help us all who are
faithful,) but for the world. The afflictions I have
suffered may satisfy such as are offended, at least
appease their hard conceits. If not, yet I know
there is a blessing for such as suffer ; and so is there
for those that be merciful. Princes (AA-ho feel not
the heaA-y estate of the poor afflicted that only are
to receive relief from themseh-es) seldom do pity
according to the true rules of charity ; and therefore
men fly to the mighty hand of God in time of dis
tress for comfort ; for we are sure that, though He
doth chastise, yet He forsake th not, neither vv ill He
see them unrewarded Avith the highest blessing. I
beseech the same God to grant me patience in all
these worldly things, and to forgive me the negli
gences of my former time, that have not been more
careful to please Him, but have run the race of the
world. In the same sort I commend you, and
pray for His grace for you as for myself.  23d
July, 1584. Your poor but assured friend, Bob't
Leicester." 1
The other letter explains itself.
" My good Lord,  Here Avas brought the sor
rowful news of the death of my Lord Talbot, your
son ; a matter which I knoAv in nature and affection
must greatly trouble your lordship  Neverthe
less, my lord, I trust the Lord hath so well instructed
1 Life of Hatton, pp. 382, 383.

Cn. V.] ANNUS MIRABILIS. 229
you with his Holy Spirit, that ye will submit both
the wisdom and the affections of flesh and blood to
his divine and blessed providence, which, my lord,
both you and all men living must wholly acknowl
edge to be the most Christian and dutiful way ; for
to grudge at his will, or to repine at his good pleas
ure, Avhat is it but plainly to fight and rebel against
his power and ordinance. The Lord hath blessed
you many ways in this world, and not the least with
the blessing of children for your posterity. He that
hath sent you many might have given you feAver ;
and he that took away this, might also take away all
the rest. Be thankful to him for all his doings, my
good lord, and take all in that piety you ought. Be
you wholly his ; and seek his kingdom, for it passeth
all worldly kingdoms ; for by him all flesh doth stand
and fall, and blessed are they that stand in him.
I trust, as he has taken this one from you, so will he
leave your lordship much and great comfort in the
rest, who are many ; and the rather, if they and you
faithfully and sincerely join together to honor, love,
and serve his Majesty, according to his blessed will
and commandment. And thus, my good lord, being
sorry to have this occasion to write to you at this
time, yet whatsoever please God to exercise you
Avithal, I cannot but show that loA-e I owe you,
Avhich, above all things, is to put ye in mind of the
true obedience ye owe to the Lord your God, to
whose blessed protection I commit your lordship.
This fifth of September. Your lordship's assured
loving kinsman, R. Leicester  To my very good
lord and cousin, the Earl of ShreAvsbury, etc., with
speed." 1 1 Lodge, II. 285, 286.

230 ANNUS MIRABILIS. [Cn. V.
There is enough of " religious phrase " in these
letters. But Ave look in vain for that Christlike
sympathy and consolation in the latter, or for those
breathings of a smitten but filial spirit in the for
mer, which mark true piety. These cannot be aped.
They are alike unknown and unutterable by him
who only assumes religion for purposes of conven
tional propriety.

CHAPTER VI.
THE WANDERING FREE PRESS.
Jons Penry's Arrival at Northampton. — His " Suttlicatiox to the
Parliament." — His Examination axd Imprisonment. — An Old Man's
ARGUMENT AGAINST THE CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY. — Il'S AA'eLCOME AND
Success.— Pkopiietic Dreams. — A Christian Maiden's Love. — 1'kxry's
early History. — Fawsley Manor. — The Prelates annoyed p.y Puri
tan Books. — ItoisEitT AVai.decrave and his secret Press. — His Perse
cutions. — The Seizure and Destruction of his Press. — Another Press
established. — Previous Troubles of Mr. John Wigcinton. — The Com
motion EXCITED BY THE ISSUES OF THE NEW PRESS. — A DOMICILIARY A'lSIT
BY NlCIIT. — Mil. AVlCGINTON AGAIN ARRESTED. — HlS EXAMINATION. —
Committed to Prison. — Migrations and Operations of the Press. —
Penry suspected, and his Study sacked. — His Indignation, and his
" Appellation to Parliament." — Order for his Arrest. — His IJetreat
to Scotland. — The English Guillotine.
1587-1589.
On the north bank of the river Nen or Nene,
and near its source, rises an eminence occupied by
the ancient town of Northampton, the capital of a
shire to which it gives name. Years before the
time of our narrative, and perhaps then, this eleva
tion Avas surmounted by a " formidable castle " of
considerable strength, and the older part of the
toAvn had been enclosed by substantial Avails. Of the
castle and the Avails only the ruins noAV remain.
Near the site of the castle, and commanding a
vieAV of the little Nen and of the green fields and
forests beyond it, stood the dAAelling of Mr. Godley,
a thrifty but unpretending burgher, — a good speci-

232 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Ch. VI.
men in person and character of the sturdy, honest,
high-minded Englishman.
In the evening twilight of an April day, in the
year 15S7, the Avorthy man sat in his quiet parlor,
Avith his maiden daughter and a young man Avhose
dusty dress indicated that he had just closed a
day's journey. They seemed very happy, and there
was somethino; in their looks Avhich shoAved that
they Avere also happy in recognizing their meet
ing as a special favor from Heaven. The traveller,
Avho Avore a University garb, Avas about tAventy-seven
A'ears of aire. When silent, his countenance beto-
kened great firmness of character ; AA'hen speaking,
energy and boldness. The strong points of Helen's
character Avere less obvious. Yet, in a quiet Avay,
her conversation and countenance disclosed that she
could pursue a purpose Avithout halting or looking
back, and that she would not flinch under any suf
fering or self-denial which the purpose might entail.
" All that we haA-e knoAvn," said she, " is that you
were sent to one of those horrid prisons in London."
"My heart did greatly misgive me," said Mr. God-
ley, " so weak be my faith. Albeit Helen, the child,
hath shamed me, believing all the Avhile that her
God would be your God and deliver you."
The young man looked at her Avith an approving
smile, and replied, " I do not wonder, for I know her
faith be strong. Yet mayhap such faith must some
day give Avay to another kind. Sometimes the Lord
seeth fit to deliver his people from the furnace;
sometimes to let them consume."
"A truce Avith homilies!" exclaimed Mr. Godley
impatiently, and someAvhat tartly. " We want your

Ch. VI.] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 233
story, my son." There was no relationship between
the tAvo ; but the elder had a paternal feeling toward
the younger Avhich he would indulge in Avords.
" My tale is short. You knoAv how my heart is
pained for my poor countrymen of Cambria, thou
sands of AA-hom have never heard of Jesus Christ.1
You knoAv, too, that I have myself labored to soav
the blessed seed of the Gospel in those barren moun
tains. But I could not rest satisfied Avithout calling
for other laborers. Therefore I resoh-ed upon ah
humble supplication to be exhibited to her gracious
Majesty and the High Court of Parliament,2 that the
Gospel of Christ might be made known and pub
lished among the inhabitants of Wales. To shoAV
the equity of this petition, I Avrote a treatise,3
wherein I did set forth so much of the estate of our
people as Avithout offence could be made knoAvn, to
the end (if it had pleased God) that they might be
pitied by them Avho Avere not of the Parliament, and
so they also be drawn to labor on our behalf. The
treatise was alloAved to be printed by public authority.4
1 By tho Act 5 Eliz. Cap. XXVIII. three months. Elsewhere the ser-
it was ordered that " the whole Biblo vice was read by " unpreaching
and also the Book of Common Pray- ministers ignorant of the native lan-
cr and Administration ofthe Sacra- guage and altogether unacquainted
ments should bo translated into tho with the truths of the Gospel."
Welsh tongue and printed; and (Waddington's Life of Penry, pp.
that the whole divine service thus 9, 12, 13, and note.)
translated should bo used by tho s This was during the recess of
curates throughout all tho dioceses Parliament from Feb. 15th to March
where that tongue was commonly 23d, 158G-7. (D'Ewes, 407, 418.)
spoken or used." But this Act had " The twenty-ninth year of her
not been carried into effect ; the Majesty's reign." (Strype's Annals,
translation having been made only VI. 150.)
in part. In many parts of AVales 3 Strype's AVhitgift, 410.
preaching was unknown. In some * Strype's Annals, VI. 150.
places a sermon was road onco in
vol.. m. 30

231 the wandering free press. [Cu. xi.
and was printed at Oxford. About the beginning
of Lent1 I caused a supplication to be presented to
Parliament by one of mine oavii countrymen, him
self a Avorshipful member of the Commons House, to
Avhich the Parliament shoAved no disliking, though
they sinned in the careless respect they had thereto.3
The Archbishop of Canterbury and his associates
of the High Commission Avere offended, despatched
their Avarrants and officers, seized five hundred of
the books, and sent me to prison."3
-- To prison because somebody else presented a
petition ! " exclaimed Mr. Godley. " I did not sup
pose that to petition Parliament Avas disalloAved.
An it Avere, methinks the member should have
been proceeded Avithal ; not you."
"Ay, ay; but the petition Avas of my framing,
as Avell as the book."
" Is it then thought wicked by the reverend fathers
of the Church to argue for the better preaching of
the Gospel ? " inquired Helen.
"I did print, and offer to prove, that our unpreach
ing ministers and non-resident ministers4 and the call
ings of our lord-bishops, archdeacons, and so forth,
Avere intolerable toAvard the Lord. I did say, Avithal,
that the Convocation House Avere not intent upon
determining matters of religion according to God's
Word Avithout partiality, that their decrees Avere to
the ratifying of corruptions and to the continuance of
ungodly callings Avithin these dominions, that their
1 Martin Mar-prelate's " Epistle," 3 Strype's Annals, VI. 151.
p. 38. Strype's AVhitgift, 30C. 4 AVaddington's Pcnry, p. 12.
2 Strype's Annals, VI. 148, 150. Strype's AVhitgift, 306.
Waddington's Life of Pcnry, pp.
10, 15, London, 1851.

Cn. VI.] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 235
endeavors were how to prevent Christ from bearing
rule in the Church by his own laws, and that it was
well known that all of them had banded together
to maintain the corruptions of our Church.1 The
plain truths about the government of the Church
established had moved the Commissioners, and espe
cially the Archbishop, against me.2 Had my state
ments been untruths, they would hardly have been
disturbed. Touching the better preaching of the
Gospel, Helen, I do not think the bishops Avish it."
-' I think that you were overmuch bold, John, and
that you might have given the truth in words less
blunt and harsh. I do not marvel that his Grace
was moved."
" It be not my way, Helen, to speak softly against
a great wrong. But Avhat I said in print, I did not
fear to say to his Grace himself by word of mouth."
"Did that dark, cruel man haul thee to his judg
ment-seat ? "
"Twelve days my keeper had me in charge to
hold me in safety at his utmost peril.3 A close ward
and a few chains," showing a slight red streak upon
his wrists, " were sufficient."
Helen shuddered, Avhile the old man knit his
brows and muttered, " Well, tAvelve days ; and Avhat
then?" " Then before the High Court of Commission.
They thought it intolerable that an enterprise for
the evangelization of the Principality should be
projected by an obscure student. The Archbishop
eased his stomach by calling me a leAvd boy, a
knave, a varlet, a factious slanderer of her Majesty's
' Strype's Annals, VI. 148, 149. ' Ibid., 150. • Ibid., 151

236 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Ch. VI.
government, and a publisher of flat treason and
heresy. I was also threatened very bloodily, and
reviled that I durst solicit Parliament. By and by a
point of my book began to be examined Avherein I
had stated that non-residents were intolerable; and
another, in which I had said that such of the clergy
as did not or could not preach, but did only read
the Bible and homilies, Avere no ministers. The
Bishop of London asked what I could say against
non-residents. To which I did say that they were
odious in the sight of God and man, because, as
much as in them lieth, they bereave the people
on whom they thrust themseh-es of the ordinary
means of salvation, which is the Word preached.
His lordship did then demand Avhether preaching
was the only means of salvation. I did answer,
that it is the only ordinary means, although the
Lord is not so tied to it but that he can extraordi
narily use other means, which I did confirm unto
him by sundry Scriptures. The point had been
caiiA-assed a long time, when the Bishop of Win
chester — Dr. Cooper — said, ' My lords, this is not
far from heresy.' 1 ' A heresy ! ' said I. ' I thank
1 I use Dr. Cooper's milder report Chester the benefit of his own ac-
of his words, as given in his " Ad- count. " Of like truth it is that he
monition." The language of Mar- burdeneth the Bishop of Winchester
tin Mar-prolate (whom I have vet' to affirm ' that it was heresy to say
to introduce) is, " His AA'orship of the preaching of the Word was the
AA'inchester rose up, and mildly, only ordinary way to salvation ' ;
after his manner, brast forth into which he never thought or spake,
these words : ' I assure you, my either then or at any other time
lords, it is an execrable heresy '" ; — of his life. But in handling of that
a representation which Mr. Strype, controversy, Penry spake things so
as I shall show in the next chapter, strangely and obscurely, that he
erroneously attributes to Pcnry seemed to attribute that effect to
himself. I give the Bishop of A\"in- the preaching of the Word only.

Cn. VI.]

THE WANDERING FREE PRESS.

237

God that I ever knew that heresy ! It is such a
heresy that I will, by the grace of God, sooner lose
my life than leave it.' 'What, sir!' quoth Win
chester : - 1 tell thee it is a heresy, and thou shalt
recant it as a heresy ! ' - Nay,' quoth I, ' never so
long as I live, God Avilling.' 'The heathenish un
truth,' said the Archbishop, 'is rather to be pitied
than ansAvered. If man punish not such sycophants,
God will. The Avorld is full of them that can talk ;
but they speak the things they knoAv not, and teach
the things they have not learned.' 1 After more talk

and not otherwise used by reading.
And being urged with that question,
by occasion of reading the Scrip
tures in churches, his answer was
such as he evidently showed himself
to mean, that that effect of salvation
could not bo wrought by hearing
the Word of God road ; with some
other words giving suspicion of
worse matter. And then, indeed,
the bishop rose not out of his place
(as these honest men do carp), nor
spake in such choleric manner as
they pretend ; but quietly said, ' My
lords, this is not far from heresy.' "
(Cooper's " Admonition," 59.)
1 Strype's AVhitgift, 30G ; Annals,
VI. 94, 95. Martin's " Epistle,"
38, 39. Brook II. 49.
In his tract " Hay any AA'ork for
Cooper," Martin thus denies tho
bishop's version, as given in the
previous note : " I will stand to
it, that his Grace accounteth the
preaching of the AA'ord being tho
ouly ordinary means of salvation
to be an heresy, and doth mortally
persecute tho same." (p. G9.)
The prelates seem to have been
poculiarlysensitive about the preach

ing, in distinction from the reading,
of God's AVord. They might well
bo so ; inasmuch as tho arrange
ments of the Church were then
such as to suppress that peculiar
means of grace, ordained by Christ,
of presenting the truths of his Gos
pel by the living speaker.
In this connection, I cannot re
frain from quoting the following
passage from Mr. Maskell's " His
tory of the Martin Mar-prelate
Controversy." " If there is one
thing more than another which has
ever distinguished, from its begin
ning up to the present time," — A. D.
1845, — "the puritanical party ei
ther in or out of the Church, it is
tho unduly exalting of tho office
and benefits of preaching. Preach
ing is, without doubt, one of the ap
pointed means by which God saves
men  But not content with
giving to it its proper and reason
able honor, tho Puritans lowered
the mysterious efficacy of the sacra
ments, and made preaching the only
ordinary means by which men might
be saved. It was natural that they
should do so. Tlicv, teachers and

238

THE WANDERING FREE PRESS.

[Cn. VI.

of this sort I Avas remanded to prison, AA'here I had
the entertainment of a month. I Avas then liberated
without other examination.1 I suppose there Avas
some hinderance to my further prosecution, because
my treatise chanced to be published by authority."
The conversation upon this topic Avas prolonged
and animated. But Ave relate only Avhat concerns
our historical purpose. At last Mr. Godley relieved
his mind by the following practical homily.
" Go to, noAV, my son ! Listen to an old man's
advice. Half the men who fall into trouble get
there because they traA'el without wives, and the
other half, depend upon it, are they Avho have Avives
but do not heed them. Ay, ay ! laugh an it suit

disciples together, were men who
could not bear so groat a burden as
would bo faith in the promises of
God, without understanding, in
some degree at least, how and why
the observance of certain means
should produce certain effects.
They could comprehend easily, that
men might be influenced by reason
ing, by eloquence, by constant ad
monitions from the pulpit ; but they
could not understand how icaler
should wash away sin ; how the
grace given in confirmation should
both strengthen and subdue ; how
the blessing of the Church is indis
pensable to the future well-being of
the newly married, and to the es
tablishing them in a religious ob
servance of their new duties ; how,
more than all, the partaking of the
consecrated elements, the eating of
the flesh of Christ and the drinking
of his blood, could be necessary to
the continuance of a Christian life
on earth, to the actual enjoyment

of, and a capability for, an endless
life hereafter." (pp. 157, 158.)
No man could say more on this
point in honor of the Puritans. In
the fullest sense, they were Prot
estants. They protested against any
other rule of faith and practice than
God's own. In this they found tho
preaching of the Gospel of Christ
" exalted " ; but found nothing about
" a mysterious efficacy of the sacra
ments '' ; nothing about " the wash
ing away of sin by icaler" ; nothing
about " the blessing of the Church
as essential to a happy married
life " ; nothing about " the grace
given in confirmation " ; nothing
about " a capability of eternal life
conferred by the Lord's Supper."
Therefore, they rejected these doc
trines. Had they found them there,
wc think they could have borne the
burden of so groat faith. Compars
ante, Vol. I. 531.
1 Strype's Annals, VI. 151.

Cn. VI.] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 239
thee. But to my thinking — and I have had expe
rience in this matter which thou hast not, John —
to my thinking, a bachelor is a half-fledged bird.
Unmarried, a man is but half a man. Yet I revere
the halloAved love of some Avho remain solitary in
respect of the memory of betrothed ones in their
graves. Troth ! I might myself have been in limbo to
this day, besides being hung half a dozen times, had
I not had a Avife to keep me on my balance. Tush !
don't think me a prating fool ! It be not fit — Avith
all the grace of God, Avhich be none too much, Avhich
I think thou hast — it be not fit for you, my son, to
meet the rough-and-tumble of life and its pitfalls
which be before thee in these times of trouble, sith
thou hast not that other grace of God — a Avife.
With Helen here, only thy betrothed, thou must go
neck and heels into peril for the sake of doing good,
for the sake of setting all Wales to rights by one
blast of your horn. But Avith Helen here as thy
Avife, thou'dst never have done so. Nor art fit, Avith
all thy Cambridge and Oxford learning, nor Avith all
thy fire of eloquence, nor Avith all that trifle thou
hast of the grace of God to boot, — I mean fully fit
and harnessed, — for the office of the Christian min
istry. Hoav can a bachelor speak Bible truth fit>
tingly to the inner Avants of husbands and Avives,
through all the ups and doAvns of .life ? to the Avord-
lcss sorroAvs of AvidoAvers and AvicloAvs ? How can a
bachelor talk Gospel so as to touch the hearts of fa
thers and mothers and children ? Nay, I marvel an
it be possible for a Avifeless and fatherless heart —
the fountains of its domestic nature locked up and
unsprung — to have those yearnings, those living,

240 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Cn. VL
nerA-ous sympathies toward the flock of Christ —
through means of Avhich thev become, as it Avere,
his flesh and his bones — Avhich be part and parcel
of the complete minister and pastor, and AA-hich have
no parallel but in the holy experience of a husband
and a father. God may use such a man as an ap
prentice or a journeyman on the spiritual building,
but not as a master-Avorkman. St. Paul! Tut! He
never could have got along but for special inspiration,
and thorns in the flesh, and messengers of Satan to
buffet him. It took a deal extra to make him fit for
the ministry. This be an anti-papistical speech. Do
you loathe papistry ? Then do I commend the ap
plication of my homely discourse to younger lips.
But my prayer is, that John Ap Henry, as a man
of God, may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto
every good Avork." So saying, the old man, embrac
ing his blushing daughter, abruptly left the room.
" Hoav thinkest thou of the homily, Helen ? Wilt
make the application ? "
" I cannot gainsay it, John. And methinks an I
should, it would avail little with thee. Touching
the application, it be plain ; and thou knoAvest I am
ready to make it. I be not coy or prudish, John ;
nor be I afraid or unwilling to become thy wife, that
I may cheer thy way an I can, and share thy lot
betide what may. I think thee a right hearty lover,
and a man of mould, and a true Christian, else I
neA*er could have given thee my young heart and
maiden vow. Yet methinks my father may not be
Avrong in saying thou Avilt not be less complete as a
minister of Christ Avhen thou art a husband."
"A blessing on thee, Helen, for thine outspoken

Ch. VI.1 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 241
thoughts ! He is right. I have had tokens of it.
They say that love before marriage is but a rill ;
after, a strong, gushing stream. My heart hath
been warmer and my speech readier even in the
pulpit — where I never think of thee — than be
fore I kneAV thee and loved. It standeth not to
reason, therefore, that when I love larger and bet
ter, being thine husband, I shall not love larger and
better the hearers of the Word, and a more fervent
love as a preacher shall surely give me truer skill
and power. Thou dost not gainsay thy father, Hel
en ; nor do I. Por thine own sake, for my sake, for
my work's sake, thou wilt share my lot ? It will be
hard. Thou knowest how I dislike the popish pre-
latical orders,1 and how this may work my trouble."
" In troth do I, right well. Thy dislike will ex
pose thee again to the terrible Court of High Com
mission." " Of" a surety, for woe is me if I preach not the
Gospel ; and I am determined never to take orders
in the Church of England, or in the Church of Scot
land, or in any other State Church.2 Therefore,
when I preach the Gospel, I shall preach at my
peril." " Amen ! I accept thy lot. We will go hand in
hand through whatever is appointed us. It will be
no flowery road. Dost believe in dreams, John ? "
" In dreams ! "
" Yes, in dreams. I have had dreams — to make
me shudder when awake — that thou and I were
walking together barefooted in a tempest ; on a road
bristling all over with thorns and nails and broken
1 Hanbury, I. 87. • Ibid.
VOL. m. 31

242 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Cn. VI.
glass, and glowing with coals, and alive Avith ser
pents. And we were bleeding and bleeding, Aveeping
and Aveeping, at every step. Yet somehoAV Ave were
singing. The air seemed full of SAveet music. We
seemed to be catching and repeating the songs
which Avere floating around us as though cherubim
were hovering there. So that we Avere very cheer
ful, maugre our suffering. Then it has always
seemed to me, in these dreams, as though Ave had
gone but a little Avay together, Avhen thou wast
snatched from me, and I Avas left alone — except
the angels. And there I always Avake."
" A strange sort of a dream, of a truth ! Always
the same ? and often ? "
" Ahvays the same, and often. Now I think it be a
kind of Avarning of Avhat is to come, so that it take
us not too suddenly. I believe it be a forecast
shadoAV, or a reflection, of a reality."
" Yet wilt be my Avife ? "
" Will be ? Why not ? " and the maiden looked
up in amazement.
" Believing thou wilt be partner in such things
when thou mayest avoid them, being alone ? "
" Noav dost thou speak foolishly, John ; for thou
dost forget the angels of my dream. Shall we not
have strength according to our day ? As the suffer
ings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also '
aboundeth by Christ.1 Is it not always so with
those who trust his love ? Thou dost also speak
foolishly, not knowing a maiden's love. Wert thou
in a thorny lane, and I on the other hedge-side on a
green meadow decked with flowers and fragrant, I
1 1 Cor. i. 5.

Cn. VI] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 243
would fain have thee with me. But an thou wert
doomed to walk there, where should I be most miser
able ? by thy side, or on the soft, pleasant turf? 0
John ! an I could not be with thee there, my heart
would break ! Nay, an it be man's right and pride
to protect, is it not woman's home beneath his arm
and next his heart ? Is it not woman's glory and
the wife's prerogative to tread the Avine-press with
him ? Ay, John, John ! thy scholarship cannot in
terpret the mystery of woman ! Thy line cannot
fathom her love ! How can they, being only a
man's ? "
" I believe ! I believe ! " exclaimed Ap Henry, his
eyes brimming and beaming Avith joy. " Teach me,
and I Avill learn, Helen ; but reproach me not."
"Nay, I reproach thee not. , Thou seest not, partly
because thou art only a man, and partly because I
am yet but an ungrafted scion. When I am grafted,
my love will bud and blossom. Thou wilt know it
better, then. The betrothed is but the symbol of
the wife."
" Sayest so ? Then will thy husband be rich, for
if such be the betrothed, what must the Avife be ? "
It is almost superfluous to say, that an attachment
so pure and ripe was soon perfected and sealed by
marriage. The young husband, who had made
Northampton his home for nearly a year,1 now pro
vided a dwelling for himself and his bride in the
immediate neighborhood of her father.2
John ap Henry, or John Penry, Avas born in Breck
nockshire, in Wales, A. D. 1559. He entered Peter-
house — the oldest College in Cambridge — in the
1 Brook, H. 48. • Waddington's Penry, 21.

244 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Cn. AT
year 1577, being then eighteen years of age. At
that time he was " as arrant a Papist as ever came
out of Wales, and he would have run a false gallop
over his beads with any man in England, and help
the priest sometimes " — as he did — '• to say mass
at midnight." But there was a Puritan influence in
the University, though suppressed. The young stu
dent, hitherto '¦' totally unacquainted with the Scrip
tures, and fascinated by the symbols and services
of the Church of Bome," had been attracted by the
pure life of certain Puritan ministers there, for the
cause of which he wondered. Thus he had been led
to examine their religious doctrine and their ethics.
Once introduced to their circles, he had soon come
to an apprehension and appreciation of the truth as
it is in Jesus, had renounced his reliance upon cere
monial observances and departed saints, and had
reposed himself wholly, for acceptance with God,
upon the gratuitous offering of Christ, the sacrificial
Lamb. John Udal, Henry Barrow, and John Green
wood — of whom we haA'e much to say by and
by — had been his fellow-collegians and intimate
friends. In the year 1583, after taking the degree
of Bachelor of Arts, he had removed to Oxford,
Avhere greater liberty of conscience was allowed.
There he took his second degree in the year 1586,
on the eleventh day of July. He had been es
teemed in both Universities, where he was account
ed " a tolerable scholar, an edifying preacher, and a
good man." It has been charged that he was an
Anabaptist, — a charge often brought, and we fear
wantonly, against all who disliked the constitution
of the Estabhshed Church. There is some reason

Ca. VI.] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 245
to suppose that he discarded infant baptism,1 but
that he sympathized with the Anabaptists of Ger
many is untrue. He publicly denied it,2 and he was
not a man to deny any opinion which he held, or
any deed he had done. He had not received or
dination, though it had been offered to him, but
" contented himself with the ordinary license of Uni
versity preacher." 8
In the immediate neighborhood of Northampton
was the manor of Fawsley, — "a fine Tudor seat,"
— the residence of Sir Bichard Knightley, deputy
lieutenant of the county.4 It had been in possession
of his family for many generations. The principal
part of the mansion was a venerable pile, constructed
after the fashion which had prevailed more than a
hundred years before. A part of it was modern.
From either side of it sloped a beautiful close-shorn
lawn, relieved here and there by shrubbery and
sturdy old oaks, beyond which, and all around, the
extensive park was freely mantled with a noble
growth of wood. Two beautiful sheets of water,
visible from the manor-house, completed the natural
beauty of the landscape. The entire manor was a
specimen of the peculiar scenery — comprising noble
elevations of ground, extensive forests, and floAving
waters — for which the whole shire is remarkable.
A grave yet animated meeting of Puritans, clergy
men and laymen, was in progress at this pleas
ant English home, soon after John Penry had been

1 Brook, II. 67, 68. ry. Brook, H. 48. Waddington's
" Hanbury, I. 72, note ; extract Penry, 3-8.
from Penry's " Appellation." 4 Hargrave, VII. 29.
* Wood's Athenaj, Article Pen-

246 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Ch. AT.
solemnly "pronounced a man." Sir Bichard, like
many others of family and estate throughout the
kingdom, had adopted the principles of the Puritans,
and felt a warm interest in their embarrassments
and plans. The meeting Avas at his instance, and
its object Avas " to consult as to the best course of
action under the difficulties that accumulated upon
them every day."1
We have before stated, that under the adminis
tration of Archbishop Parker the Puritans had em
ployed the press "with so much confidence and
sharpness " as greatly to disturb his Grace ; and
that, at the instigation of the Ecclesiastical Com
missioners, the Privy Council had issued a decree
prohibiting such publications under severe penalties.2
This had placed the Puritans in a neAV dilemma;
either to abandon the grand palladium of free
speech, or to sustain it at the risk of such punish
ments as an arbitrary court might inflict. They
had accepted the peril, and had entered at once
upon a contest with despotism for another and an
invaluable right, — The Freedom of the Press. It was
the first struggle of the kind, we think, ever wit
nessed on British soil. It was another step toivards
civil liberty. They had issued new pamphlets at
their pleasure, and scattered them abroad, " both in
city and countrj*," so that after the Archbishop had
hunted for their secret press for six years in vain,
he had exclaimed, irritated and chagrined, " The Pu
ritans slander us with books and libels, lying they
care not how deep ; and yet the more they write, tlie
1 Waddington's Penry, 22. a Ante, Vol. I. 303, 304.

Cn. VI.] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 247
more are they applauded and comforted." * They had
also persisted, notwithstanding other " decrees and
ordinances  for the repressing  abuses 
by persons professing the art or mystery of print/
ing."2 Their books had "nothing abated, but had
rather more and more increased;"3 "whereby many
men had become prejudiced against conformity and
a peaceable compliance with the Church's orders,
and their minds blown up with discontents and
doubts about the usages and practices of the
Church."4 So obvious was it that the influence
of these publications was great and increasing, and
that thereby Puritanism was on the advance, that in
1585 still severer measures had been decreed in the
Star-Chamber for their suppression.5 But neither
had these availed. From some press or presses, to
the Commissioners unknown, Puritan opinions had
been persistently dispersed. In defiance of decrees,
the popular aversion to the hierarchy had been lib
erally fostered.
For a feAV years, at least, the chief if not the only
man who dared to print the books " Avhich touched
the bishop's mitres " — of which there had been
"never a book that contained either treason or
impiety " — Avas Bobert Waldegrave, Avho had a
press which he secretly wrought at Kingston in
Surrey. It had long been suspected by the jeal
ous Avatchmen of the Commissioners, that it Avas
he who " printed the Puritans' books " ; 6 so much
so, that no sooner did any such book make its
1 Strype's Parker, 888, 389. 4 Ibid.
• Strype's Whitgift, 222. • Ante, p. 23.
1 Ibid. ' Strype's Whitgift, 302.

248 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Ch. VI
appearance than the pursuivants scoured city and
country to find Waldegrave.1 He was a person
specially disliked by the Archbishop, who Avould
listen to almost any suit rather than to one in his
behalf. Even the Lord Treasurer could obtain no
favor for him at the hands of his Grace.2 Upon one
occasion, a certain man had received a bribe of five
pounds to betray him, and for that purpose had led
the pursuivants in disguise to the house of a tinker
in Kingston. But so great was the disappointment,
— for the bird had floAvn, — that the guide was
thrust into prison for having defrauded his employ
ers.3 Waldegrave had been "so often in prison,
that it seemed the prelates made a common occu
pation thereof." 4 These commitments seem to have
been grounded upon mere suspicion. The object
seems to haA7e been to extort a disclosure of Avhat
he knew by the terrors of imprisonment and the
threat of the rack.6 The rack he had neA*er tasted,
but at one time, at least, he received a hundred
lashes.6 Previous to 1588 he had been committed, on
suspicion merely, no less than six times ; noAV for a
longer, now for a shorter term.7 His house — appar
ently when he was in concealment — had been re
peatedly rifled by the pursuivants of his Grace and
of the Bishop of London, to the great terror of his
wife, the only protector of " six small children." 8
1 Martin's " Hay any AA'ork for ried Waldegrave to prison, and in
Cooper," 6 7. this " — prison — " his Grace was
* Ibid., 66. so good unto him as to help him to
2 Martin's " Epistle," 54. an hundred marks over the shoal-
4 '¦ Hay any Work," &c, 65 - 68. ders."
6 Ibid., 67. * Ibid., 68.
' Ibid., 66. I cannot otherwise 8 Ibid., 67. Martin's "Epistle,"
interpret the words, " So they car- 30.

Ch. VI.] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 249
In 1584 he had printed " The Practice of the Prel
ates";1 in 1586, "The Complaint of the Common
alty of England " ; 2 at another time, " A Learned
Man's Judgment " ; and at other times, other like
tracts. By some means the Commissioners had
gathered sufficient evidence of these his offences to
warrant his prosecution under the decree of 1585.
Upon conviction he had been sent to the White Lion
for the term of six months designated in the fourth
section of the decree.3 At the same time, his press,
tools, and type had been utterly destroyed, although
his craft-brethren, in pity to his dependent family,
and to save them from absolute penury, had offered
to purchase the whole at a fair value. He was also
" disabled to use or exercise the art or feat of im
printing."4 Once convicted of offences so rank in
the eyes of the Commissioners, he had felt himself
even more insecure than before from personal out
rage. Thus, after his release, he had found it
1 Ante, Vol. II. 448. There is an utter lack of dates in
* For the date of this print, see a Martin's statements here about
list of the Tracts composing the Waldegrave ; nor can I supply the
" Parte of a Register " ; Maskell's lack from any other source. I can
" History of the Martin Mar-prelate only determine that the facts must
Controversy," 26, note (London, have occurred before the midsum-
1845). Dr. Bancroft, however, mer of 1588 ; from which time to
says that "The Complaint" was 1589 Waldegrave's history is known.
presented to Parliament in 1585. I have no express authority for con-
(Hicks, 262.) necting the destruction of his press
a Hay any Work for Cooper, 68 ; with the (unknown) time of his
where twenty weeks is stated as the conviction. I do it only because
time. But I cannot think that a this was his only conviction which
person so extremely obnoxious to I find recorded, and because the
the bishops would have suffered less demolition of his property must
than the prescribed penalty. have followed such conviction as a
' Martin's " Epistle," 30 ; com- matter of course.
pared with the Decree, in Strype's
Whitgift, Appendix, p. ft").
VOL. in. 32

250 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Cn. VI.
necessary to forsake his home, to leave his destitute
family with Him Avho heareth the young ravens, and
to keep himself in concealment.1 But, as Ave shall
soon see, his spirit had not been broken.
Thus vigorous had been the struggle between the
ecclesiastical government and the Puritan Free Press.
With equal vigor, and in a sterner spirit, it was about
to be renewed.
By the destruction of Waldegrave's press, the Pu
ritans had been deprived of the means of publication.
To arrange for the establishment and management
of another press Avas the object of the meeting at
FaAvsley.2 Sir Richard Knightley Avas " no sectary,"
and seems to have been satisfied Avith the constitution
of the English Church. But he was interested in
the cause of Church reform so far as to have the
ministry purged of unlearned and " bad " men, who
held almost all the livings in the kingdom. He was
therefore willing to associate himself Avith the few
ancient families in the neighborhood Avho espoused
the Puritan cause, and particularly to aid by his
protection and purse the new enterprise now pro
jected.3 Penry, who was present at this conference, though
much disliking the constitution of the Church, and
especially its political element and abuses, cared but
little about it in comparison Avith that which absorbed
his soul, — the zealous propagation of the Gospel,
especially in his OAvn country of Wales. He ob
jected to prelacy indeed, and to the prelates them-
1 Martin's "Epistle," 30. a Hargrave, VII. 30. Wadding-
3 Waddington's Penry, 22. ton's Penry, 21.

Cn. VI.] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 251
selves. But to them, not so much because they
were prelates, and not so much because, being prel
ates, they enforced " superstitious and corrupt cere
monies," as because, interposing their factitious au
thority, they barred, especially in the land of his
birth, the progress of revealed truth. It Avas mainly
to arouse the public conscience against this crying
sin that he was resolute to operate through a press
independent of prelatic control.1 The great object
of the other members of the conclave Avas to com
mend the Presbyterian form of Church government,
in opposition to the Prelatic.2
Notwithstanding some conjectural assertions to the
contrary, we find no evidence that any gross meth
ods of' attack upon the persons or offices of the
hierarchy were contemplated by any who were
present.3 The result of their deliberations may be briefly
stated. It was resolved to set in operation another
1 Waddington's Penry, 22, 23. Pcnry, 23, 24) represents that at
' Ibid. this meeting tho question was de-
' Mr. Field's words, in convcrsa- bated whether jeering, satirical pens
tion with Dr. Pearson, in 1572, should, or should not, bo employed
havo been improperly quoted as against tho persons of the bishops.
indicating a purposo to adopt that The language which lie quotes is to
coarse, virulent, personal satire bo found in Fuller's Church His-
which soon issued from the press tory (Book IX. p. 193). It seems
sot in operation by this assembly of to me that Fuller represents the
Puritans. (Maskoll, 24.) But the way in which some persons justified
very words of Mr. Field — discreet- Martin Mar-prclatc after his books
ly omitted by Mr. Maskoll — show had appeared. But I think it is
tho contrary ; for ho added, " God clear, that so much of what he states
htoweth we meant to speak against on tho other side as is quoted by
no man's person, but their places Dr. AVaddington, Fuller gives as
and existing corruptions.'" {Ante, his own opinions; not as those of
Vol. I. 442, 443.) " tho more discreet and devout
Even Dr. Waddington (Life of sort " among the Puritans.

252 THE WANDER* NG FREE PRESS. [Ch. VL
press, and to procure Waldegrave as the master-
printer. As it was certain that the most deter
mined search would be made so soon as a new
Puritan book should appear, the care and chief
management of the press were intrusted to Penry,
although — and it is a point of some historic im
portance — he could neither monopolize its use, nor
dictate Avhat it should or should not issue.1 The
press Avas to be free, so far, at least, as it could
be Avithout obligating the printer to set up matter
against his will.
The ardent young Welshman accepted the trust,
and immediately betook himself to his work ; procur
ing a press, and securing the serA'ices of Waldegrave.
About the middle of July 2 he applied to Sir Rich
ard Knightley to provide shelter for the press, that
he might reprint his " Treatise and Supplication
to Parliament, that beforetime Avas printed at Ox
ford." This Sir Bichard " did incline an ear unto,
the rather in respect of the want of learning Avhich
he knew to be in the ministry."3 Yet, for some
unknown reason, the first reprint of this Avork was
issued elsewhere.
There was in London a widow, — Mrs. Crane, —
of whom we know only that she was a high-spirited,
courageous woman, who could insist anywhere upon
her legal rights, Avho befriended the Puritans, and
entered heart and hand into their new enterprise.
She had a country seat at Mouldsey, on the other
side of the Thames, a part of which she offered for
1 Waddington's Penry. 35. of 1588, see below, Chap. VH. p.
' " About James-tide," 1588 ; 2»7, note 2.
Hargrave, VH. 30. For this date 3 Hargrave, A*H. 30.

Ch. VI] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 253
the use of their press ; and there it was first set up.
Its first issue, under the hand of Waldegrave, was a
reprint of Penry's " Treatise and Supplication." This
was immediately followed by " An Exhortation unto
the Governors and People of her Majesty's Country
of Wales, to labor earnestly to have the Gospel
planted among them";1 which also Avas of Penry's
writing. It seems to have been a second edition.2
It gave great offence to the bishops for the opinion
it expressed, that ministers who did not preach Avere
no ministers, and ought to surrender their benefices.8
Penry was in attendance upon the press from the
middle of July about three weeks, during which
time he was frequently visited by Mr. John Udal,
late minister at the neighboring town of Kingston,
and still resident there;4 and by Mr. Giles Wiggin-
ton, late minister at Sedburgh in Yorkshire.6 These
three men knew that they met here at their peril,
as was afterwards terribly proved.
Mr. Udal was a graduate of Cambridge, and aa\is
esteemed for his talents and learning. He Avas " a
notable preacher of the Gospel, and a vehement
reprover of sin." 6 Some of his parishioners, " taking
offence at his faithful warnings and admonitions,"
which came home upon them personally, had entered
complaints against him, and had procured his sus
pension and his commitment to prison. He lay
there six months;7 a fact which verifies our pre
vious statement, that private grudge and personal
1 Waddington's Penry, 24, 28. • Martin's " Epistle," 33. Wad-
1 Strype's Whitgift, 295. dington's Penry, 24.
* Waddington's Penry, 30. • Martin's " Epistle," 44.
4 Strype's Annals, VI. 603, 606. T Brook, II. 1. Neal, I. 190.

254 TnE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Cn. VI.
pique often availed themselves of the jealousy and
hasty severity of those having ecclesiastical power.1
He had again been convented in September and in
October, 1586, and in January, 1586-7. Through
the intercession of the Countess of Wanvick in each
instance, he had been restored to his ministry.2 But
in this year — 1588 — he had been again suspended.3
Before the close of the year he Avas deprived of his
living, and in January. 1588-9, removed to New
castle-upon-Tyne.4 His melancholy history Avill claim
our attention hereafter.
Mr. Wigginton also had taken his degrees in Arts
at Cambridge, where he had been introduced under
the patronage of Sir Walter Mildmay, "a constant
friend to the persecuted nonconformists," and Avhere
he had been distinguished for his literary attainments.5
After taking his degrees, he had continued at the Uni
versity some years, until presented to the vicarage of
Sedburgh. Being in London in 1584, he had been
appointed to preach before the judges. But in the
middle of the night he was roused from his bed by a
pursuivant of Archbishop Whitgift, avIio, in his lord
ship's name, forbade him to preach ; and, tvithout
ivarrant, compelled him to give bonds upon the spot
to appear before his Grace the next day. He did so,
and was tendered the oath ex officio, refused it, and
was punished by confinement in the Gate House
nine Aveeks. In 1585, upon information given "by a
1 " If any parishioner bore an sent to cite him, &c. Warner, H.
ill-will to his minister, lie might in- 454.
form the Commissioners by letter " Brook, n. 1,3, 7, 9.
that the clergyman was a suspect- * Martin's " Epistle," 45.
ed "person, upon which a pursui- * Hargrave, 1. 167. Brook, U. 9.
vant, paid ten pence per mile, was " Brook, I. 418, note.

Ch. VI] TnE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 255
man of profane character and a suspected Papist,"
his Grace of Canterbury had directed his Grace
of York to proceed against Mr. Wigginton, even
to deprivation. Archbishop Sandys obeyed. But,
through " the influence of several persons of quality,"
Mr. Wigginton had been restored.1 In 1586, hap
pening again in London, he had been again arrested
by order of Archbishop Whitgift ; had again refused
the oath ; and had been again committed to prison.
"By the Archbishop's strict charge, the keeper of
the prison had so loaded him ivith irons, confined him
in a close prison, and deprived him of necessary
food, that in about five weeks he Avas nearly dead.
At length, his life being in so great danger, he was
removed to another prison in London ; was again
brought to Lambeth, and again suspended from
preaching in the Province, because he had refused
the oath. When, by extremity of his prison sick
ness, he found himself compelled to remain longer
in the city, and Avhen still so Ioav that his physicians
believed him to be upon his death-bed, the Arch
bishop sent tAvo pursuivants to summon him again
to Lambeth. Because he did not appear, being un
able to move, his Grace deprived him of his living,
and degraded him from the ministry." 2 Upon his
recovery, he had returned to Sedburgh, conceiving
that he still OAved the duties of a pastor to the flock
whom he had taken in charge. The pulpit of the
church being refused him, he had preached in va
rious places, — particularly in his OAvn house, — and
had administered the sacraments. For so doing,
at the instigation of Archbishop Whitgift, Arch-
1 Brook, I. 419, 420. * Ibid., 420, 421 ; Wigginton's Account.

256 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Ch. VI
bishop Sandys had issued a precept for his arrest,
and in the cold weather of February, 1586-7, as he
was on a journey with his family, he Avas arrested
and sent fifty miles to " the noisome prison of Lan
caster Castle, though there were better prisons near
at hand. There he Avas confined in a cold room,
with felons and condemned prisoners, and in va
rious ways worse used than they or recusant Pa
pists." 1 Thus each year for four successive years
his Grace of Canterbury had persistently and terribly
punished this Christian scholar for refusing an illegal
oath. Precisely how long he remained in Lancaster
Castle we cannot find. But he was liberated at
some time before midsummer of 1588.
About the middle of the month of August it was
found expedient to remove the press to Kingston,
where Waldegrave printed the " Epistle," 2 the first
of the Martin Mar-prelate Tracts, which we notice in
our next chapter. He also printed, at the same
place, " The Demonstration of Discipline," a tract
which occasioned one of the most remarkable trials
under Elizabeth's reign,3 and probably " The Dia
logues of Diotrephes," 4 another Puritan tract. All
these had a wide circulation, and excited the anger
and apprehensions of the government, especially .of
the ecclesiastical department. The queen, through
her Council, issued a special order to the Archbishop,
that he should, by the Ecclesiastical Commission, or
otherwise, use speedy means to apprehend and commit
the authors and complices of these offensive tracts.6
1 Brook, I. 421, 422. 4 Martin's " Epistle," 8. Strype's
2 AVaddington's Penry, 35. Annals, VI. 603.
3 Martin's " Epitome," 4. ' Strype's Whitgift, 289.

Ch. VI.] THE WANDERING FREB PRESS, 257
This order was dated November 14th, 1588. It was
promptly and eagerly obeyed, " four bishops posting
over city and country for poor Martin," J for all
the tracts were attributed to him. During this
search, how many persons were arrested on mere
suspicion we do not know ; but one case, having
much the appearance of rancorous persecution, we
shall soon notice.
Of course the hunt was up once more for Walde
grave. His wife had long lived under constant and
distressing apprehension, and repeatedly, as we have
stated, had seen her own humble dwelling ransacked
and rifled by pursuivants. But in the middle of a
November night of this year she Avas the victim of
a greater violence. While the desolate woman was
sleeping a troubled sleep, she was roused by the
sound of heavy blows without, immediately suc
ceeded by the, crashing of her own door. She had
hardly sprung from her couch when she heard the
rush of heavy footsteps within, and immediately
found her apartment invaded by half a score of
men. The mother sprang to her children. The
children, woke by the blazing links, the tramp and
rude voices of the intruders, clung, screaming with
fright, to the mother ; while the pursuivants, void
of all respect for female delicacy and of pity for a
mother's terror, laughed at the distraction which
they had occasioned. The words of entreaty and
remonstrance, the insulting replies, the exclamations
of terror, the coarse jokes, Avhich passed between
the affrighted family and these legalized burglars,
we will not attempt to describe. It is enough to
1 Martin's " Epitome," 1.
VOL. m. 33

258 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. TCh. VI
say, that, while one of the officers kept wratch over
the crouching mother and her clinging children, the
others, chagrined that they had not already found
tho father, dispersed rapidly but fruitlessly in search
of him and rifled the house of all they chose to ap
propriate. The search and plunder accomplished,
Avith a few more words of insult the ecclesiasti
cal emissaries went their Avay. Though they had
missed of Waldegrave, they made a good booty of
his books, which they " sold up and doAvn the streets
to Avatchmen and others." 1 So great was the stir
occasioned by Waldegrave's late publications, partic
ularly by " The Epistle to the Terrible Priests," and
so close Avere the searchers upon the scent at Kings
ton, that the press once more migrated to Mouldsey.
But Mrs. Crane noAv objected. She was sure that it
would be discovered there, so many and so watchful
were the spies round about. It Avas eA'ident that its
operations must thenceforth be conducted beyond
a district so suspected and watched ; and Penry, at
much cost of trouble and expense, caused the ap
paratus to be transferred in a common cart to North
ampton, a distance of seventy miles. He followed
it and avoided arrest ; but was obliged to resort to
disguise, changing his scholar's dress for that of a
fashionable gallant.2 This occurred, probably, about
the first of November.3
Mr. Wigginton, less cautious, was less fortunate.
In December, soon after the publication of Martin's
second tract, he ventured into London. The pursui
vants of the Ecclesiastical Commission quickly found
1 "Hay any Work for Cooper," 6 7. 'Hargrave, VII. 30 ; " All-hal-
¦ Waddington's Penry, 35, 36. lowtide."

Ch VI.] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 259
him, and dragged him from his bed to the Counter
prison on suspicion of being concerned in the publi
cation of Martin's "Epistle." He was then arraigned
at Lambeth, before the High Commissioners.
" There is a book called Martin Mar-prelate," said
the Archbishop, " a vile, seditious, and intolerable
book, and you are suspected of being one of its au
thors. Therefore you are to swear what you know
concerning it."
" You do well to let me know what I have to
swear to. But let me know also who are mine ac
cusers; for I do not mean to accuse myself."
" We will take your answers upon your word
alone." His Grace had had experience of Mr. Wig-
ginton's firm resistance of the oath. " What say
you to these articles following ? Have you any
of those books ? Have you read, or heard any of
them read, or any part of them, at any time ? "
" I will not answer to accuse myself. Let my ac
cusers stand forth and proceed against me. You
have known my mind upon this point many years.''
" Have you had any of them ? How many ?
How came you by them ? What did you do with
them ? In whose hands are they ? By whose means
did you get them ? "
" I would rather accuse myself than other persons ;
but I will accuse neither. Let mine accusers and
proper witnesses, according to the laws of God and
man, proceed against me."
"Have you bought, sold, dispersed, handled, or
any way dealt in any of them ? In what sort ? "
" I account it as unnatural to accuse myself, as to
thrust a knife into my thigh. Tlie matter, I under-

260 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Ch. VI
stand, is doubtful and dangerous, therefore I will
accuse neither myself nor others. 'In the mouth
of two or three witnesses, let every word be estab
lished.' Even the heathen judge said, 'I will hear
thee when thine accusers are come.' "
" Do you know the author, writer or printer? Did
you make, or help to make, write, or print it, or any
part, or see any part before it was printed ? "
" I did neither make, write, nor print it, nor any
part of it, nor see any part of it before it was
printed." " Whom do you believe, think, suspect, or con
jecture to be the author, writer, or printer of it, or
of any part of it, or any way helper towards it ? Did
you make any oath, or vow, or promise, to conceal
the same ? "
" What I believe, think, suspect, or conjecture,
or have vowed or promised, I am not bound to make
known." " Did you not say to the pursuivant, as you came
in the boat, that you had seen ' the second Martin
called the 'Epitome'?"
" Let the pursuivant stand forth and accuse me, if
he will."
" We have the queen's authority and commission
in our hands," said the Bishop of Winchester.
" While I profess to serve God, all that I do is not
the service of God. So while you challenge the
queen's authority and commission, all that you do
is not the queen's authority and commission."
" The Papists answer altogether like you," said the
Archbishop. " The Papists eat bread, and so do I, and I fear not

Ch. VI] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 261
to do like them in any good thing  Love me
not the worse for being plain with you."
"No, you are not so plain," retorted Dr. Cosin,
* for you do not directly answer."
" Martin himself, I understand, will come forth and
defend his matters, if he may have a fair trial."
" Record that, Mr. Hartwell," said the Archbishop.
Dr. Aubery then inquired, " Did you not tell your
keeper at the Counter, that he could not find out the
author of that book ? "
" He is a simple man, and imagines that I am the
author " ; — a keen thrust at all who imagined him to
be the author.
" Is Mr. Penry, then, the author of " The Demon
stration,' or of ' Martin Mar-prelate ' ? " asked his
Grace. -- 1 think he is not. I think you are greatly de
ceived in charging him with it."
" There are many lies in Martin."
" You must confute them, then."
There is much of interest in this examination.
We find the Court using the same minute, ensnar
ing, odious style of examination to discover the
author of a book, as they were wont to use to
detect clerical delinquencies;1 resorting to the same
"judicial sifting," to the same artful inventions to
extort self-conviction, so loathsome to the moral
sense and manhood of Lord Burleigh.2 Nor can we
fail to notice, with shame and grief, how the Com
missioners — English magistrates and Christian min
isters — ignored alike, and without a blush, the
common law of the land, Magna Charta itself, and
1 Compare ante, Vol. II. 401-404. ' Ibid., 421, 422.

262 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. ICh. VI
even the express rules of the Gospel of Christ. But
hoAV commendable the attitude and behavior of the
friendless examinate, planting himself, through the
whole proceeding, upon the Gospel, the common law
of justice, and the rights of an English subject !
We admire and honor the heroic spirit and unwa
vering principle of the man — already familiar Avith
oold and hunger and chains and sickness and infa
mous companionship, all in prisons — Avho would
rather brave them all again by refusing the de
mands of a despotic and pitiless tribunal, than yield
his right to trial " according to the laws of God and
the realm."
The examination concluded, and the Commission
ers having consulted upon the case, his Grace pro
nounced sentence : " Forasmuch as you have refused
to swear and to answer as we have required you,
and so by law have confessed yourself to be guilty of the
accusations against you ; and as you have at sundry
times, and in divers ways, showed your contempt of
our ecclesiastical authority, and of this High Com
mission  which you shall obey and yield unto
before I have done with you, — therefore  you
shall be kept close prisoner in the Gate House until
you shall yield in these matters, and when you are
so disposed, you may send us word. In the mean
time, go your way. Away with him, pursuivant ! " ]
It is supposed that Mr. Wigginton continued in prison
until the year 1593.
We have not yet fairly introduced this mysterious
Martin Mar-prelate, to whom reference has often been
made above ; but shall soon do so. He well kneAV
1 Brook, I. 418-426.

Ch. VI.] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 263
what he was saying when, before Mr. Wigginton's
arrest, he wrote the following words ; and it must
have been galling to the Commissioners that they
must verify them so literally, or let Mr. Wigginton go.
"I will tell the bishops how they shall deal Avith you"
Puritans. " Let them say that the hottest of you
hath made Martin, and that the rest of you were
consenting thereunto ; and so go to our magistrates
and say, ' Lo ! such and such of our Puritans have,
under the name of Martin, written against your
laws.' And so call you in and put to your oaths
whether you made Martin or no. By this means
Mr. Wigginton, or such as will refuse to take an oath
against the law of the land, will presently be found to
have made Martin by the bishops, because he cannot
be gotten to swear that he made him not. And here
is a device to find a hole in the coat of some of you
Puritans." 1
The press was never in Sir Richard Knightley's
own house at Fawsley,2 although the contrary ap
pears upon record.8 It was set up in a house (prob
ably provided by him) " at the farther end of the
town," where Waldegrave printed the second of
Martin's tracts, " The Epitome." 4 This tract excited
anew the anger of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners,
and they were now the more bent upon apprehend
ing Penry, believing him to be concerned not only
in writing " The Epistle," but also in writing " this
most seditious and libellous pamphlet, fit only for a
vice in a play," 5 as " The Epitome " was described.
1 Martin's " Epitome," 3. 4 Hargrave, VH. 29. Strype's
' Hargrave, VH. 30. Annals, VI. 602.
' Strype's Annals, VI. 6C 2. ' Hargrave, VH. 29.

264 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Ch. VL
Yet Penry, far from having penned these books, far
eA*en from having approved them, earnestly, but in
vain, remonstrated with WaldegraA'e against their
publication.1 We find no other record of anything
done by the press while at Northampton. " The
Epitome " occasioned " a very hot search " there.
"The parson of the parish" — Mr. Edward Snape —
" told Sir Richard that the printing was A'ery danger
ous ; whereupon Sir Richard caused the press to be
taken down,2 and it was transported to Norton about
the twenty-fifth day of December,3 where it remained
until the twentieth day of February, 1588-9. Penry,
through Sir Richard's influence,4 then secured a ref
uge . for it at Coventry in the house of Mr. Hales, a
nephew of Sir Richard.5 Here the printing pro
gressed vigorously under the conduct of Walde
grave. In February he printed a work — of which
we find no particular description — entitled " Min
eral Conclusions " ; in Midlent, Penry's " Supplica
tion to the Parliament " ; and on Palm-Sunday,
" Hay any Work for Cooper," Martin's third tract.6
In the mean time, Penry's study had been sacked,
on the twenty-ninth day of January, by one Rich
ard Walton, a noted officer of the High Com
mission, Avho carried away such books and written
papers " as he himself thought good." 7 Walton's
1 Waddington's Penry, 35. s Hargrave, VH. 29.
For a statement so important, it s Strype's Annals, VI. 602.
is greatly to be regretted that Dr. * Ibid.
AA'addington has not given his au- 6 AVaddincton's Penry, 48.
thority. I accept his assertion, how- ° Strype's Annals, VI. 603 bis,
ever, believing that he would not 604. Hargrave, VII. 29, 30.
have made it without book, and ' Strype's Annals, VI. 151. Wad-
finding it to accord with other evi- dington's Penry, 42.
dence to be hereafter adduced.

Ch. VI.] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 265
commission authorized him to enter dwelling-houses
and other buildings, and to arrest and imprison any
whom he might suspect to be privy to the operations
of the secret press. To his great disappointment,
he did not find Penry nor the bookbinder Sharpe,
both of whom he was particularly charged to ar
rest.1 From Coventry, the press was taken to the house
of Sir Roger Wickstone, in Woolston, where two
other tracts of Martin were printed 2 by Hodgkins ;
for Waldegrave was so closely hunted that he dared
no longer continue the enterprise. After working at
Coventry, he had taken his departure for Scotland ;
his purse being supplied by friends anxious for his
safety.3 The blood of the young Welshman was roused by
what had just taken place at Northampton ; not
only that his house had been invaded, his study
plundered, and his unprotected wife subjected to
rudeness and insult, but also that Walton, an upstart
official of the Archbishop and his colleagues, had
treated the Mayor of Northampton with indignity,
and had threatened violent proceedings, unwarranted
either by law or his commission. He resorted to a
bold and manly measure ; an honest, outspoken ap
peal to Parliament to secure to the humblest citizen
of the realm the protection of English law. " For
myself," said he, "I have been pursued day and
night by the emissaries of the bishops since the
1 Waddington's Penry, 42, 43. » Strype's Annals, VI. 604. Wad
Strype's Annals, AT 151. dington's Penry, 86.
* Ibid., 603. Hargrave, VH. 30.
vol. in. 34

266 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Ch. VI
day I first addressed your Honorable Court in be
half of my kindred perishing for lack of the Gospel.
The sanctuary of my house has been violated in
her Majesty's name. The chief magistrate of North
ampton has been insulted by a discarded beadle of a
London company, summoned to appear before the
High Commission, and ordered to surcease the exe
cution of his office unless myself and another were
forthcoming. Why have these outrages been com
mitted ? Because the Archbishop of Canterbury
and his colleagues in commission have seen fit to
consider me a suspect person, to denounce me as a
sower of sedition and a traitor ! Yet have I been
all the days of my life at my studies, have never
dealt at all in anything that concerneth civil gov
ernment, and have been so far from attempting aught
against her Majesty's person, that Satan himself
would be ashamed to charge me thereAvith. I have
indeed sought, but by moral force and none other, to
root out the wicked hierarchy Avith whatsoever cor
ruption dependeth thereon ; for they tread in the dust
those rights and immunities of the people which were war
ranted upon her Majesty's accession to the throne.
To labor for such a reformation by all right and
loyal means, I am still resolved. Though a thou
sand degrees inferior to mine adversaries, I have the
upper hand of them in the goodness of my cause.
The spilling of my blood for it, though it be a mat
ter to be regarded of you that are in authority, yet
I thank the Lord it is not the thing I fear. The
discrediting of the Truth by my hard usage, — that
it is I regard  My only suit and petition is,
that I may have assurance of quietness and safety;

Ch. VI.] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 267
or that, the causes of my trouble being laid open by
mine adversaries, I may receive the punishment of
mine offences. I crave no immunity. Let me have
justice. This is all I crave. This, in regard of your
places, you are bound to afford me. Moreover, to
suffer the continuance of unlawful excesses by the
High Commissioners will be to infringe upon the
liberties of Parliament itself. Thus do I, in most
dutiful sort, make this my just appellation from the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and the rest of his col
leagues in commission, unto the Honorable and
High Court of Parliament."1
Such, in substance, was the spirited language of
this intrepid Reformer, addressed to the Parliament
of 1588-9. He committed it to the press soon after
the seventh- day of March, and it was largely circu
lated and read before the dissolution of the Parlia
ment, on the twenty-ninth day of the month.2 In
his petition that he might be assured a fair and
speedy trial, Penry was not alone. Many scores of
Christian men and women, less fortunate than he,
were daily breathing the same prayer in the prisons
of London, where they had been consigned by the
arbitrary orders of the Commissioners, and Avhere
they were pining, and literally dying, herded Avith
the most depraved and abandoned felons. This we
shall verify hereafter.
Such was Penry's last effort in connection with the
Puritan press. Soon after the publication of this
" Appellation," an order for his arrest Avas issued by
Archbishop Whitgift and five others of the Privy
1 Strype's Annals, VI.. 151. Wad- 3 Hanbury, I. 73, note.
dington's Penry, 11 -44, passim.

268 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. fCn. VL
Council, and "sent by public messengers unto all
such places of the land as there Avas any like
lihood of his abode." By this instrument he was
denounced as one of Avhom their Honors had certain
knowledge that he was an enemy to the State ; and
all men were ordered so to account him, to yield him
no aid, comfort, or relief, and to render her Majesty
good service by his apprehension, if in their power.1
Confident now that they who sought '-the spilling
of his blood " would leave no spot unsearched where
the arm of their power could reach, he saw no means
" for the aA'oiding of being taken " but to seek ref
uge in Scotland.2 While at Oxford he had been
known to several Scottish ministers, who had visited
the University. These men and their brethren had
become deeply interested in his subsequent efforts
for the preaching of the Gospel, and he was confident
of their fellowship and protection. Taking with
him, therefore, his devoted wife and their infant
child, he sought a new home ; choosing his route
northward with great caution and secrecy by the
less frequented roads.3 One scene which they wit
nessed on their journey claims our attention.
They were resting a day at Halifax, a town in
the West Trithing, or Biding, of Yorkshire. It was
a market-day, and the market was in full view from
their inn. They were inspirited by watching the
animated groups of country people in their tidiest
gear, as they merrily chattered and chaffered off
their wares, for Penry and his wife, in their darkest
hours, could look beyond their own cloud and yield
1 Strype's Whitgift, 347, 348. 2 Strype's Whitgift, 409.
Hanbury, L 74. » AVaddington's Penry, 8, 9, 49.

Cn. VI] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 269
a lively sympathy for the happiness of others. At
times for an hour or two they had stepped out upon
the quaint and massive balcony of the inn to enjoy
the vivacity of the motley multitude.
About noon there was a sudden suspension of traf
fic. The people began to move to the farther side
ofthe market-place, where they gathered in a crowd,
the farther verge of which terminated where stood
two upright and parallel pieces of timber, about four
feet and a half apart, and some fifteen feet in height,
joined by a cross-bar at the top. Immediately be
neath this connecting joist was a massive wooden
block, extending from one of the upright timbers to
the other. The lower surface of the block glittered
in the sunlight, seeming to be furnished with some
appendage of steel. The block itself was sustained
by a large wooden pin from which to the ground
hung a rope. Whatever might be going on immedi
ately beneath this structure, it could not be seen by
our travellers ; for, at an elevation of not more than
ten feet, their view was intercepted by the croAvd.
While they stood looking on with much curiosity,
the people raised a great shout, the rope Avas rapidly
passed along to the extent of a hundred feet or
more over the heads of the people, and was eagerly
grasped by as many as could reach it, while, without
exception, those who could not do so extended their
arms as though they would. It seemed to be an ob
ject which every one coveted. So soon as this had
occurred, the crowd stood motionless and silent, but
all with arms still outstretched, and every eye turned
toward the upright frame. A minute or two passed.
A black scarf was raised. The people again shouted.

270 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. [Ch. VI.
They who had a hold upon the rope ran along with
it, — the others following Avith extended hands,—
until the supporting pin Avas drawn from its socket
and the huge block which it had supported fell,
sliding along a rabbet in the tAvo standards. This
done, the enthusiasm of the people was over. They
gradually dispersed and resumed the ordinary busi
ness of the day. So soon as their departure had
opened the view, Penry, still curious to know what
had transpired, uttered an exclamation of horror,
and Helen paled as though she would have fainted.
Beneath the upright framework lay the body of a
man weltering in its own blood, his head having
been stricken off upon a block by the falling axe
which the people had dislodged.
" Helen, pulse of my heart ! I am sorry for this.
You should not have seen it. Forgive me ; for I did
know, by common fame, that such things are done
in Halifax. But of a truth, my memory did not
chance to serve me till the whole was revealed."
" Was he a great criminal, think you ? "
" Probably he had stolen a few shillings' worth of
goods. There is no statute prescribing such punish
ment. But it is, if I rightly remember, a custom of
this town which by long usage has become as a law,
that such execution shall be done upon any one con
victed of stealing so much as may be valued by four
constables at thirteen pence half-penny."
" Thirteen pence half-penny ! For a felony so tri
fling must a man be butchered ? "
" Such is retribution here. Hull, only a few miles
below, is as terrible also for thieves, being a town of
such strict government; insomuoh that you will find

Cn. VI] THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. 271
it written in what is profanely called the beggar's or
vagrant's liturgy, — and which has passed into a prov
erb in these parts, — ' From Hell, Hull, and Halifax,
good Lord deliver us ! ' In this town, if a man be
convict of having stolen a horse, a neat, or any such
cattle, the self beast, or other of the same kind, in
stead of the people, shall have the end of the rope
tied somewhere unto them ; so that they being driven
do draw out the pin whereby the offender is exe
cuted." x
" It be a terrible punishment ! "
" For so small a crime, surely. Nevertheless, if
death must be inflicted, it be a mode merciful."
" Merciful ! A bloody death merciful ! "
" Troth, Helen ! The head-block wherein the axe
be fastened doth fall down with such a violence that
if the neck of the transgressor were so big as that
of a bull, it should be cut in sunder by the stroke in
a twinkling, and roll from the body by a huge dis
tance. The death is on the instant. The victim is
no sufferer. Therefore it be merciful ; far, far more
merciful than — than — "
" Than what, John ? "
" Dangling and strangling on a gibbet, Helen ;
which I sometimes think is in reserve for me."
The young wife shuddered involuntarily, but
turned a keen, searching look of inquiry upon her
husband. " No, Helen ! " said he, instantly reading her
thought. " I have put my hand to the plough.
Whatever fate may threaten me or you, I turn not
back." 1 Holingshed, I. 312. Fuller's AVorthies, III. 398.

272 THE WANDERING FREE PRESS. |Ch. VI.
-•' Now God be praised ! God keep thee and me !
God give us strength ! 0 John ! I would rather see
thee suffer any death, and bear myself the anguish
of widowhood a hundred fold, than have thee recre
ant to thy purpose or thy work."

CHAPTER VII.
MARTIN MAR-PRELATE.
Synopsis op the Martin Tracts. — Why sought for where unheard
of. — The Sensation which they produced in England. — Proclama
tion against them. — Seizure of the Press. — Arrest of its Employees
and Patrons. — Their Arraignment and Sentence. — Remarks on Mar
tin's Writings. — Misrepresentations of them. — Their Authorship
and Sponsors considered. — The Puritans disavowed them. — Disavow
al of Throgmorton, Cartwright, Penry, Udal — The prominent Pu
ritan Clergy denounced Martin upon his first Appearance — The
Writer to this Day unknown.
1588, 1589.
" To the Right Puisante and Terrible Priests, my
Clergy, Masters of the Confocation House, 
or any other of the holy league of subscription : This
work I recommend unto them with all my heart,
with a desire to see them all so provided for one day
as I would wish, which I promise them shall not be
at all to their hurt.
" Right poisoned, persecuting, and terrible priests !
 You are to understand that Dr. Bridges hath
written in your defence a most senseless book ; and
I cannot very often at one breath come to a full
point when I read the same. May it please you to
give me leave to play the dunce for the nonce as
well as he ? Otherwise dealing with master doctor's
book, I cannot keep decorum persona?. And may it
please you, if I be too absurd in any place,  to
ride to Sarum and thank his Deanship for it ? 
VOL. III. 35

274 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VII.
They are petty popes and petty antichrists, whoso
ever usurp authority of pastors over them who, by
the ordinance of God, are to be under no pastors.
For none but Antichristian popes and popelings ever
claimed this authority unto themselves,- especially
when it was gainsaid and accounted Antichristian,
generally by the most Churches in the world 
Therefore our lord bishops  as John of Canter
bury, Thomas of Winchester, (I will spare John of
London for this time, for it may be he is at bowls,
and it is pity to trouble my good brother, lest he
should swear too bad,) my reverend prelate of Litch
field, with the rest of that swinish rabble, are petty
antichrists, petty popes, proud prelates, intolerable
withstanders of reformation, enemies of the Gospel,
and most covetous, wretched priests  For the
good-will I bear to the reverend brethren, I will
speak as loud as ever I can  Neither they nor
their brood are to be tolerated in any Christian com
monwealth, quoth Martin Mar-prelate. There is my
judgment of you, brethren 
" Would your Avorship know how I can show and
convince my brother Bridges to have set down fiat
treason ? Then have at you, Dean ! 1. It is treason
to affirm her Majesty to be an infidel, or not to .be
contained in the body of the Church. 2. It is trear
son to say that one priest or elder may Imve a lawful
superior authority over her Majesty Take your
spectacles then, and spell your own Avords, and you
shall find that you have affirmed either of these two
points. For you affirm that a priest may have a
lawful superiority over the universal body of the
Church. And you dare not deny her Majesty to be

Ch. VII.j MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 275

0

contained within the universal body of the Church.
Therefore, to help you spell your conclusion, you
have written treason, if you will be as good as your
writing  You will have her Majesty to be sub
ject unto her own subject and servant  Thus
you see, brother Bridges, Martin Mar-prelate hath
proved you to have deserved a cawdel of hempseed
and a plaster of neckweed, as well as some of your
brethren the papists 
" I care not now an I leave Mass Dean's worship,
and be eloquent once in my days  Well, now
to mine eloquence, for- 1 can do it, I tell you. Who
made the porter of his gate a dumb minister?
Dumb John of London. Who abuseth her Majesty's
subjects, in urging them to subscribe contrary to
law ? John of London. Who abuseth the High
Commissioners as much as any? John of London.
Who is a carnal defender of the breach of the Sab
bath, in all places of his abode ? John of London.
Who goeth to bowls upon the Sabbath ? Dumb,
duncetical John of good London hath done all
this 
" May it please you that are lord bishops to show
your brother Martin how you can escape the danger
of a praemunire, seeing you urge her Majesty's
subjects to subscribe clean contrary to the Statute
13 Elizabeth ?  Tell me, what have you to show
for yourselves ? Her Majesty's prerogative ? Have
you? Then I hope you have it under seal No, I
warrant you her Majesty is too wise for that. For
it shall never be said that she ever authorized SHch
ungodly proceedings  Seeing you have nothing
to show that it is her Majesty's will, why should any

276 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VTL
man subscribe contrary to the statute ? Forsooth,
men must believe such honest creatures as you are
upon your words ? Must they ? As though you
would not lie. Yes, yes. bishops will lie like dogs.
They were never yet Avell beaten for their lying.1 
" Is it any marvel that Ave have so many SAvine,
dumb dogs, non-residents, with their journeymen the
hedge priests, so many leAvd livers, as thieA*es, mur
derers, adulterers, drunkards, cormorants, rascals, so
many ignorant and atheistical dolts, so many covet
ous popish bishops in our ministry, and so many-
monstrous corruptions in our Church, seeing our
impudent, shameless, and wainscot-faced bishops,
like beasts, contrary to the knoAvledge of all men
and against their own consciences, dare in the ears
of her Majesty affirm all to be well, where there is
nothing but sores and blisters, yea, where the grief
is even deadly at the heart ? 
"You see, my worshipful priests of this crew -to
1 The reader will perceive in this to nonconformists, .... he would
paragraph a distinct and contem- profess how glad he was to serve
porary confirmation of my state- them, and gratify them in compli
ments (A*ol. H. 351, 352, 382), that ance with their desire; assuring
Elizabeth was too careful of her them, for his part all possible kind-
popularity to sanction the subscrip- ness should be indulged unto them.
tion required under AVhitgift's ad- But, in fine, he would remit nothing
ministration ; and that the bishops, of his rigor against them. Thus he
by insisting npon it, were exposed never denied any great man's de-
to the penalties of a praemunire, sire, and never granted it ; pleasing
I will not echo the words of Mar- them for the present with general
tin about the lying habits of the promises, and .... still kept eon-
bishops of his day. I do not be- stant to his own resolution. Here-
lieve them. But, to show that he upon, afterwards the nobility sur-
might have had some occasion for ceased making more suits unto him,
the. libel, I quote the following, as ineffectual, and even left all
" This was the constant custom of things to his own disposaL" (Fuller,
Whitgift: If any lord or lady sued Book IX. p. 218.)
to tim to show favor, for their sakes,

Ch. VH] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 277
whom I write, what a perilous fellow Martin Mar-
prelate isl He understands of all your knavery,
and it may be he keeps a register of them. Unless
you amend, they shall all come into the light one
day,  unless you observe these conditions of
peace which I draw between you and me. For I
assure you, I make not your doings known for any
malice that I bear unto you, but. the hurt that you
do unto God's Church. Leave your wickedness, and
I '11 leave the revealing of your knaveries 
1. The said lord bishops must promise to observe
without fraud or collusion, and that as much as in
them lieth, they labor to promote the preaching of
the Word in every part of this land. 2. That here
after they admit none into the ministry but such as
shall be known, both for their godliness and learning,
to be fit for the ministry  3. That neither they
nor their servants  urge any to subscribe con
trary to the Statute 13 Elizabeth ; and that they
suspend or silence none but such as either for their
false doctrine or evil life shall show themselves to be
unworthy the places of ministers  4. That none
be molested  for this my book, for not kneeling
at the communion, or for resorting on the Sabbath
(if they have not preachers of their own) to hear
the Word preached and to receive the sacraments.
5. That never hereafter they profane excommunica
tion as they have done, by excommunicating alone
in their chambers, and that for trifles. That they
never forbid public fasts, or molest those present at
such assemblies. Briefly, that they never slander
the cause of reformation, or the furtherers thereof,
in terming the cause by the name of Anabaptistry,

278 MARTLN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VII
schism, &c, and the men Puritans and enemies to
the State 
" I offer you peace upon the former conditions, if
you will keep them. But if you violate them, either
in whole or in part, then your learned brother Mar
tin doth proclaim open war against you, and in-
tendeth to work your woe in two manner of ways.
First, I will watch you at every half-turn, and what
soever you do amiss I will presently publish it 
To this purpose, I will place a young Martin in
every diocese which may take notice of your prac
tices  And rather than be disappointed of my
purpose, I will place a Martin in every parish 
I hope in time they shall be as worthy Martins as
their father is ; every one of them able to mar a
prelate  Secondly, All the books that I have in
store already of your doings shall be published
upon the breach of the former covenants, or any of
them 
" Now, master prelates, I will give you some more
counsel. Follow it. Repent, clergymen, and es
pecially bishops. Preach faith, bishops, and swear
no more by it. Give over your lordly callings 
Rail no more in the pulpit against good men 
Abuse not the High Commission, as you do, against
the best subjects. The Commission itself was or
dained for very good purposes, but it is most horribly
abused by you, and turned clean contrary to the end
wherefore it was ordained. Help the poor people to
the means of their salvation, that perish in igno
rance. Make restitution unto your tenants, and
such as from whom you have wrongfully extorted
anything. Usurp nc longer the authority of making

Ch. VH] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 279.
of ministers and excommunication. Let poor men
be no more molested in your ungodly courts. Study
more than you do, and preach oftener. Labor to
cleanse the ministry of the swarms of ignorant
guides wherewith it hath been defiled. Make con
science of breaking the Sabbath by bowling and
tabling  And I would advise you, let me hear
no more of your evil dealing 
"By your learned and worthy brother, Martin
Mar-prelate." We have had repeated occasion to notice the Pres
byterian Platform, framed by the Puritans, entitled
-- The Holy Discipline of the Church described in the
Word of God," x which was printed at Cambridge in
1584, seized and suppressed, but again printed in
1586.2 This book, and others which had been print
ed by the Puritans, were assailed, in 1587, by Dr.
John Bridges, Dean of Sarum, in a formidable pam
phlet of fifteen hundred quarto pages,3 entitled
"A Defence of the Government of the Church of
England."4 In 1588, about the month of- Octo-
1 Ante, Vol. H. pp. 270-276; adds, "This error may be traced
Vol. III. p. 152. to a passage in Neal, who says
1 Strype's Whitgift, 151, 247. (though he knew better), 'Dr.
* Strype's Annals, V. 414 ; VI. Bridges answered Martin in a lu-
96. Maskell, 26 - 29. dicrous style.' " (Maskell, 8, and
* " To this an answer was re- 9, note.) Mr. Maskell is pleased to
turned, called ' A Defence of the give Mr. Neal the lie direct ; less
godly Ministers against the slanders courteous than an American critic,
of Dr. Bridges.' Bridges replied, who only speaks of Neal's " fibs."
and the other party published a re- (.4nte,A*ol. II. p. 109, note 2.) Wheth-
joinder." (Collier, VII. 73.) After- er Dr. Bridges did write against
wards Martin appeared. I take Martin may be a question ; but I
occasion here to quote Mr. Maskell. cannot pass such a charge against
Complaining that any one should Mr. Neal without notice. Certain-
" suppose that Dr. Bridges wrote ly, Mr. Neal had some authority for
against Martin Mar-prelate," he his assertion. "The Epitome was

280 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Cn. VH
ber,1 appeared the first tract of Martin Mar-prelate,
levelled particularly at the " Defence " of Dr. Bridges.
It was entitled "An Epistle to the Terrible Priests
of the Convocation House," and purported to have
been " Printed over sea, in Europe, within tAvo fur
longs of a bouncing priest." From this Ave have
given extracts above. It Avas soon folloAved by "An
Epitome of the first book of that right Avorshipful
volume written against the Puritans in defence of
the noble clergy, by John Bridges, Presbyter, Priest,
or Elder, Doctor of Divility, and Dean of Sarum.
 Compiled for the behoof and overthrow of
the unpreaching Parsons, Vicars, and Curates that
have learned their catechisms and are past grace.
By the reverend and worthy Martin Mar-prelate,
gentleman, and dedicated by a second epistle to the
Terrible Priests." From this second epistle we give
some extracts.2
" Why, my clergy masters, is it even so with your
terribleness ? May not a poor gentleman signify his
good-will unto you by a letter, but presently you
must put yourselves to the pains and charges of

intended for an answer to a book search for the authors of a lewd,
written by the Reverend Dean of seditious book lately printed," &c,
Sarum against Martin Mar-prelate." which he says was Martin's. The
(Strype's AA*hitgift, 288.) A mis- date of this order is Nov. 14th,
take, to be sure, but did Neal 1588. (Strype's AVhitgift, 289.)
" know " it '/ " One of these " an- Hence it would seem that the first
swerers to Martin " was Dr. Bridges, of this series must have appeared
Dean of Sarum." (Strype's An- late in October, or early in No
na's, VI. 96.) " Dr. Bridges had vember.
written against Mar-prelate's libel, 2 All my references to Martin's
and that very well." (Strype's writings, and also to Dr. Cooper's
AVhitgift, 301.) " Admonition," are to their reprints
1 Strype records an order from by John Petheram, London, 1843 -
the queen to the Archbishop ''to 184 7.

Ch. Vn.] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 281
calling four bishops together  and posting over
city and country for poor Martin ? Why ! his mean
ing in writing unto you was not that you should
take the pains to seek for him ! Did you think
that he did not know where he was himself? 
I thank you, brethren. I can be well though you do
not send to know how I do. My mind towards you,
you shall know from time to time by my pistles.
As now; where you must know that I think not
well of your dealing with my worship and those that
have had of my books in their custody. I '11 make
you rue that dealing of yours, unless you leave it.
I may do it, for you have broken the conditions
of peace between us  The Puritans are angry
with me, I mean the Puritan preachers. And why ?
Because I am too open. Because I jest. I jested be
cause I dealt against a worshipful jester, Dr. Bridges,
whose writings and sermons tend to no other end
than to make men laugh. I did think that Martin
should not have been blamed of the Puritans for
telling the truth openly. For may I not say that
John of Canterbury is a petty pope, seeing he is so ?
You must then bear with my ingramness.1 I am
plain. I must needs call a spade a spade, a Pope a
Pope. I speak not against him as he is a Councillor,
but as he is an Archbishop, and so Pope of Lambeth.
 And bishops  all of you are in an unlaw
ful calling, and no better than a brood of petty
popes  Friars and monks were not so bad.
They lived in ¦ the dark. You shut your eyes lest
you should see the light  I have pulled off your
vizards. Look to yourselves, for my sons will not see
1 Ignorance.
VOL. iii. 36

282 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VH
their father thus persecuted at your hands. I will
Avork your Avoe and overthrow, I hope. And you are
already clean spoiled unless you will grant the Puri
tans a free dispensation, and leave your persecut-
ing." In the " Epitome " — to which this "epistle " serves
as a preface — we find but little of the exceptionable
language so conspicuous in " The Epistle." " Thou
knoAvest not how I love thee for thy wit and learn
ing sake, brother John (as for thy godliness I might
carry it in mine eye and see never a whit the
worse) " — is almost the only railing accusation it
contains. Our present object is only to exhibit the
facetious, the satirical, the scurrilous, the gross which
came from Martin's pen.
Dr. Thomas Cooper, Bishop of Winchester, now
appeared in the lists. There appeared from his pen
"An Admonition to the People of England : wherein
are answered not only the slanderous untruths re
proachfully uttered by Martin the libeller, but also
many other crimes by some of his brood, objected
generally against all bishops and the chief of the
clergy, purposely to deface and discredit the present
state of the Church." With few and moderate ex
ceptions, this volume was written in a style becom
ing the author's station in a Christian church.
Martin Mar-prelate lost no time in replying. Early
in 1588-9 he issued his third tract, " Hay any Work
for Cooper ; Or a brief Pistle directed by way of an
hublication to the reverend Bishops, counselling them,
if they will needs be barrelled up for fear of smelling
in the nostrils of her Majesty and the State, that
they would use the advice of the reverend Martin

Ch. VII] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 283
for the providing of their cooper  Where
in worthy Martin quits himself like a man, I war
rant you, in the modest defence of hisself and his
learned Pistles, and makes the Cooper's hoops to
fly off and the bishop's tubs to leak out of all crie.1
 Printed in Europe, not far from some of the
bouncing priests."
This tract is also prefaced by "An Epistle to the
Terrible Priests," thus : —
"  0, brethren, there is such a deal of love
grown of late, I perceive, between you and me,
that although I would be negligent in sending my
pistles unto you, I see you cannot forget me. I
thought you to be very kind when you sent your
pursuivants about the country to seek for me. But
now that you yourselves have taken the pains to
write, this is out of all crie. Why ! it passes to think
Avhat loving and careful brethren I have, Avho, al
though I cannot be gotten to tell them where I am,
because I love not the air of the Clink or Gate House
in this cold time of winter, and by reason of my
pistle-making, will notwithstanding make it knoAvn
unto the world that they have a month's mind
towards me.2 Now, truly, brethren, I find you
1 Out of all measure. office of the Romish Church for the
' " Month's mind," i. e. a strong repose of the dead, formerly used
desire. So Shakespeare, in " The in England, although it is possible
Two Gentlemen of Verona " (Act tho expression might have origi-
I. Scene 2) : " Julia. I see you have nated from it. Here it expresses a
a month'9 mind to them." Respect- strong desire ; and just in the same
ing the comments upon this passage sense it is used in the western coun-
by Gray and Johnson, Mr. Pethcram ties to this day. Shakespeare, in
(to whom I am indebted for the the following quotation," — which I
definition of this phrase) has the have given above, — " used it in this
following remark. " This expres- sense, although the commentators
lion has nothing to do with the have given some most strange illus-

284 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VII.
kind. Why, you do not know what a pleasure you
have done me ! My Avorship's books Avere unknown
to many before you alloAved T. C. to admonish the
people of England to take heed  Now many seek
after my books more than ever they did  Many
did not know, either, that ' Amen ! ' is as much as
' By my faith ! ' and so that our Saviour Christ ever
SAvare by his faith ; x or that boAA'ling and eating of
the Sabbath are of the same nature.2  Many,
I say, were ignorant of these things, and many
other pretty toys, until you Avrote this pretty book.
Besides, whatsoever you overpass in my AA-ritings
and did not gainsay, that I hope Avill be judged to
be true. And so John Bridges' treason you grant
to be true. Yourselves you deny not to be petty
popes,  so that the reader may judge that I
am true of my word, and use not to lie like bishops.
And this hath greatly commended my worship's
trations." Mr. Petheram is sus- 2 I have quoted Martin on this
tained by the following expression point. " AA*ho goeth to bowls on
which he quotes from Fuller (Book the Sabbath ? Dumb duncetical
IV. Sec. 23) : " The king had more John of good London." This, as
than a month's mind to procure the well as " By my faith ! " was a no-
Pope to canonize Henry VI. for a torious fact. Bishop Cooper's reply
saint." was : " And for your jesting at the
1 This refers to a remark in Mar- bishop for bowling upon the Sab-
tin's " Epistle," which I have not bath, you must understand that the
quoted, that the Bishop of London best expositor of the Sabbath, which
was in the habit of exclaiming, or, is Christ, hath said that the Sabbath
as Martin calls it, swearing, " By was made for man, and not man for
my faith ! by my faith ! " {Ante, the Sabbath ; and man may have
Vol. II. pp. 257, 260. Strype's his meat dressed for his health upon
Aylmer, 215, 216.) Bishop Cooper, the Sabbath, and why may he not
in his " Admonition," had replied, then have some convenient cxer-
" In the phrase of our speech, ' by cise of the body for the health of
my faith ! ' signifieth no more but the body ? " (" Admonition," 43,
' in very truth,' ' bona fide,' ' in 44.)
truth,' id est, ' Amen.' " (p. 47.)

Ch. VII.] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 285
good dealing  Ah ! crafty whoresons brethren
bishops ! did you think because the Puritans' T. C.1
did set John of Canterbury at a nonplus, and gave
him the overthrow, that therefore your T. G, alias
Thomas Cooper, could set me at a nonplus ! Simple
fellows !
" I guess your T. C.2 to be Thomas Cooper, (but 1
do not affirm it,) because  none " other " Avould
be so grosshead as to gather — because my reverence
telleth Dean John that he should have twenty fists
about his ears more than his own,3 whereby I meant
indeed that many would write against him by reason
of his bomination learning, which otherwise never
meant to take pen in hand — that I threatened him
with blows and to deal by Stafford law.4 Whereas
that  could by no means be gathered out of
my words but only by him  Avhom a papist
made to believe that the Greek word evXoyeiv, that is,
to give thanks, signifieth to make a cross in the fore
head. Py, hy, hy, hy ! I cannot but laugh ; py, hy,
hy, hy! I cannot but laugh to think that an old
soaking student in this learned age is not ashamed
to be so impudent as to presume to deal with a Pa
pist when he hath no grue in his pocket.6  And
1 Thomas Cartwright. less matter.' The allusion in the
' Dr. Cooper's book appeared text, having evident reference to
with only his initials. the moderate knowledge of Greek
* " Epistle," p. 2 ; which I have which Martin's adversary possessed,
not quoted. may therefore mean, when he had
' I. v. Club law. very little or no learning wherewith
Upon this word " grue " Mr. to answer him." In my note {ante,
Pethcram has the following note. Vol. I. p. 31, note 1) I have written,
" Nares, in glossing the word, says " They consented, and he did so, be-
that it ' seems to be put for the cause he knew no better." So are the
word ypi ; i. e. any trifling or worth- words in Strype's Aylmer, now be-

286 ' MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VH
I tell you true, our brother Winchester had as lief
play tAventy nobles in a night at Priemero on the
cards, as trouble himself with any pulpit labor ; and
yet he thinks himself to be a sufficient bishop.
What ! a bishop such a card-player ! A bishop play
twenty nobles in a night ! "
We pass from this prefatory epistle to the tract
itself, in Avhich we find many offensive passages.
" Now, you wretches, (Archbishop and lord bish
ops, I mean,) you Mar-state, Mar-law, Mar-prince,
Mar-magistrate, Mar-commonwealth, Mar-church, and
Mar-religion,1 are you able for your lives to answer
any part of the former syllogism whereby you are
concluded to be the greatest enemies unto her Ma
jesty and the State ? You dare not attempt it, I
know  You are, then, the men by whom our
Estate is most likely to be overthrown. You are
those that shall answer for our blood which the
Spaniard or any other enemies are like to spill,
without the Lord's great mercy. You are the per
secutors of your brethren (if you may be accounted
brethren). You and your hirelings are not only the
wound, but the very plague and pestilence of our
fore me. But in some other edition from Bishop Cooper, who wrote
of the same work, which I had in thus (" Admonition," 27) : " The
hand when that note was penned, author of them calleth himself by
(or, perhaps, in McCrie's Life of a feigned name, Martin Mar-prel-
Knox,) the words were, " because ate ; a very fit name undoubtedly.
he had no greue." In that case, But this outrageous spirit of bold-
and in the one now before us, the ness be not stopped speedily, I fear
reading of Greek was concerned, he will prove himself to be not
I therefore question whether the only Mar-prelate, but Mar-prince,
word " grue " may not have been Mar-state, Mar-law, Mar-magistrate,
another way of writing the word and all together, until he bring it
" Greek." to an Anabaptistical equality and
1 Martin borrows these names community."

Ch. Vn.] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 287
Church. You are those who maim, deform, vex,
persecute, grieve, and wound the Church  I
know I am disliked of many which are your ene
mies, that is, of many whom you call Puritans. It
is their weakness. I am threatened to be hanged by
you. What though I were hanged ? Do you think
your cause shall be better? For the day that you
hang Martin, assure yourselves there will be twenty
Martins spring in my place. I mean not now, you
gross beasts, of any commotion as profane T. C,
like a senseless wretch not able to understand an
English phrase, hath given out upon that which he
calleth the threatening of fists. Assure yourselves, I
will prove Mar-prelate before I have done with you."
On another point. " I do not marvel though thou
callest me libeller, when thou darest abuse the Proph
ets far worse than in calling them libellers, for. I tell
thee true, thou couldest not have any way so strained
their good names as thou hast done in comparing
them to our bishops. Call me libeller as often as
thou wilt, I do not greatly care. But, an thou lovest
me, never liken me to our bishops of the Peril."
" What further need have we of witnesses ? " ex
claims the indignant reader. Yet even Martin Mar-
prelate must not be wronged. Let us hear him,
then. A few pages before these startling words,
" our bishops of the Devil," he had Avritten the fol
lowing paragraph, in which we should carefully dis
tinguish between what he says and what Dr. Bridges
had said. In the paragraph he simply makes an
annoying logical deduction, placing the bishops
fairly between the horns of a very disagreea
ble dilemma.

288 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VH.
" I say that, by your own confession, you are
bishops of the Devil. I will prove it thus. You
confess that your lordly government  your
offices were unlawful in our CommonAvealth, if her
Majesty, the Parliament, and the Council AA-ould
have them abolished. If you grant this, then you
do not hold your offices from God, but as from
man  Well, sir; if you say that you are
the bishops of man, then tell me Avhether you like
of Dean John's book. '0 yes!' saith T. C, 'for
his Grace did peruse that book, and we know the
sufficiency of it to be such as the Puritans are not
able to answer it.' Well then, whatsoever is in
this book is authentical ? ' It is so,' saith T. C,
' otherwise his Grace would not have allowed it.'
What say you, then, to the page of that book
where he saith that ' there is no bishop of man
at all ; but every bishop must be either the bishop
of God or the bishop of the Devil ' ? He also
affirmeth ' none to be the bishop of God but he
who hath warrant, both inclusively and also ex
pressly, in God's Word.' Now you bishops of the
Devil, what say you now ? Are you spighted of
the Puritans because you, like good subjects, de
fend the laws of her Majesty ? Or else because,
like incarnate devils, you are bishops of devils, as
you yourselves confess ?  Either by their own
confession they are bishops of the Devil,  or
else their places ought to be in this Commonwealth,
Avhether her Majesty and our State will or no;
because they are not (as they say) the bishops of
man, that is  by human constitution, 
but by Divine ordinance  What shift will

Ch. VTL] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 289
they use to avoid this point ? Are they the bishops
of men, — that is, hold they their jurisdiction as from
men? 'No,' saith Dean Bridges; 'No,' saith John
Canterbury and the rest of them (for all of them
allow of this book of John Bridges), 'for then we
are bishops of the Devil, we cannot avoid it.' Are
they then the bishops of God ? that is, have they
such a calling as ought lawfully to be in a Chris
tian commonwealth,  whether the magistrate
will or no ? ' We have,' say they ; ' for our callings
are not only inclusively but expressly in the Word.'
So that, by Dean Bridges' confession and the approbation
of John Canterbury, either our bishops are bishops
of the Devil or their callings cannot be defended
lawful without flat and plain treason in overthrow
ing her Majesty's supremacy. And so Dean Bridges
hath written, and John Whitgift approved and al
lowed flat treason to be published." 
" But will our bishops lead their Antichristian
callings and persecutions, think you, if they be
mildly and gently dealt with ? " Then, good John of
Canterbury, I pray thee leave thy persecuting. Good
John of Canterbury, leave thy popedom. Good
father John of London, be no more a bishop of the
Devil ; be no more a traitor to God and his Word.
And, good sweet boys, all of you, become honest
men. Maim and deform the Church no longer.
Sweet fathers now, make not a trade of persecuting.
Gentle fathers, keep the people in ignorance no
longer. Good fathers now, maintain the dumb min
istry no longer. Be the destruction of the Church
no longer, good sweet babes now. Leave your non-
residency and your other sins, sweet popes now;
vol.' in. 37

290 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VII.
and suffer the truth to have free passage. Lo ! T C,
now I have mildly dealt with the good fathers. I
will now expect awhile, to see whether they will
amend by fair means."
We give one more extract. " Therefore you,
T C, and you, Dean John, and you, John Whitgift,
and you, the rest of the beastly defenders of the
corrupt Church government, are not only traitors to
God and his Word, but enemies to her Majesty and
the State. Like you any of these nuts, John Can
terbury ? I am not disposed to jest in this serious
matter. I am called Martin Mar-prelate. There be
many that greatly dislike of my doings. I may have
my wants," — faults, lacks, defects, — "I know ; for I
am a man. But my course I know to be ordinary" —
regular — " and lawful. I saw the cause of Christ's
government, and of the bishops' Antichristian deal
ing, to be hidden. The most part of men could not
be gotten to read anything written in the defence
of the one and against the other. I bethought me,
therefore, of a way Avhereby men might be drawn to
do both ; perceiving the humors of men in these
times (especially of those that are in any place) to
be given to mirth. I took that course. I might
lawfully do it. I, for jesting is lawful by circum
stances, exen in the greatest matters.1 The circum
stances of time, place, and persons urged me there
unto. I never profaned the Word2 in any jest.
1 The use of " I " for " aye " were with the Yea or I eighty-five
was common with writers at this voices, and with the No but sixty
time. So in "The Epitome "(p. 11): nine." (D'Ewes, 373.) This use
" Here then is the Puritan's I, for of I is of constant recurrence in
the permanency of this government D'Ewes.
and Master Doctor's No." " There ' I think this is an allusion to a

Ch. VH]

MARTIN MAR-PRELATE.

291

Other mirth I used as a covert, wherein I would
bring the truth to light. The Lord being the author
both of mirth and gravity, is it not lawful in itself
for the truth to use either of these ways, when the
circumstances do make it lawful ?
"My purpose was and is to do good. I know I
have done no harm, however some may judge Martin
to mar all. They are very weak ones who think so.
In that which I have written I know, undoubtedly,
that I have done the Lord and State of this kingdom
great service ; because I have in some sort discov
ered the greatest enemies thereof."

previous statement of Martin, viz. :
" This priest being lately demanded
whether he should be Bishop of
Ely, answered that he had now no
great hope to be Bishop of Ely;
' and therefore,' quoth he, ' I may
say well enough, Eli, Eli, lama sa
bacthani,' alluding very blasphe
mously unto the words which our
Saviour spake in his greatest agony
on the cross." (" Epistle," 63.) " I
pray thee, T. C, how canst thou
excuse his blasphemy ? There have
been two outrageous facts amongst
others committed in the world by
those that profess true religion. The
ono was, the betraying of our Sav
iour by Judas the Apostle ; the
other was the horrible mockery of
his agony and bitter passion, by
John Aylmer, a bishop, in this
speech." ("Hay any Work for
Cooper," 72.) Mr. Maskell (pp. 65,
66) comments upon this thus: " Very
blasphemous was such an allusion.
We can scarcely believe that it was
other than an invention ofthe writ
er, or at least fathered unjustly upon
»n English prelate. And yet Bish

op Aylmer makes us doubt, upon
the evidence of his own book." He
then quotes the anecdote which I
have given, (Vol. I. p. 31, note 1,)
showing how in another case the
same lamentation of our Saviour was
irreverently, or ignorantly, used.
Mr. Maskell says that the story was
told of " some presbyter priest " ;
and so indeed Martin phrases it.
(" Epistle," 62.) But was he igno
rant that Martin charged this " blas
phemous allusion " upon Bishop
Aylmer by name t That he did so
is sufficient, I think, to show that
the story was no " invention of the
writer " ; for Martin must have been
demented to have published such a
story, and to have charged it home
upon the bishop himself, had it been
a pure fiction. The missile, in that
case, would surely have recoiled
upon his own head. Dr. Cooper,
in his reply to Martin's charges
against Bishop Aylmer, makes no
mention of this anecdote ; perhaps
because Martin did not fix it upon
Aylmer until after the " Admo
nition " was published.

292 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VII.
In these remarkable Papers there were peculiari
ties other than appear in our quotations, and which
require a passing notice. They contained ("The
Epistle " particularly) many scandalous tales about
some of the prelates ; though Martin declares that
he notices not one of their secret faults, but only
those of their misdeeds Avhich were matters of com
mon notoriety. But Martin was by no means merely
a satirist and a railer. His tracts also contained a
large proportion of tart criticism, of shrewd objec
tions to prelacy as connected with the State, and of rea
soning as fair and logical as any laid down by any of
the Precisians of the Establishment. Our extracts
have been confined to their most rude and offensive
parts. We have exhibited, Avithout reserve, the
scurrilous words and phrases with which they so
deplorably abound ; for at these chiefly the shafts of
partisan historians have been hurled, — these they
have heedlessly magnified,- misrepresented, and dis
torted. We have made our extracts so copiously
because no mere description, however impartial, can
convey a true idea of their pungent peculiarities;
because it is but just to let Martin represent himself;
and because we have no disposition to conceal or to
gloss anything exceptionable or blameworthy in Avrit-
ings for which the Puritans are usually represented
as responsible. Another consideration has influenced
us. ' In these United States of America ' — we
are told — " we have no literature of our own. Hence
we are eager for importations. Not eager because
we wish for information, — that is only a pretext, —
but because we hanker for excitement, for amuse
ment; and that to such a degree, that even the

dh. vn.]

MARTIN MAR-PRELATE.

293

Martin Mar-prelate tracts, charged as they are with
the most deadly poison, and one for which we have
no antidote, Avill be generally acceptable." x
The writings of Martin Mar-prelate produced a
great sensation. They were eagerly and extensively
read. Martin boasted of this. " You see how I am
favored of all estates, the Puritans only excepted,
I have been entertained at Court.2 Every man talks
of my worship. Many would gladly receive my

1 I quote my authority for these
statements. " A most serious ob
jection lies against the republication
of these Elizabethan Puritan tracts.
It is this: that by far the greater
part of the edition goes to America.
That is, as it seems to me, the very
country to which these books ought
not to go. It is natural that the
thousands of its quickly increasing
population, with no literature of
their own, should eagerly look
abroad, from any source, for infor
mation. They are not able to judge
correctly of the supply which is
readily enough poured in ; and in
fact, whilst a wish for information is
made a pretext, excitement and to
be amused are the real prompters
of tho demand for books. And so
this country sends them, as a por
tion of its traffic, the tracts of Mar
tin Mar-prelate I In the hands of a
people who possess not the checks
to ill which still exist among our
selves, .... where there is no at
tempt at discipline, and scarcely
certainty upon tho most important
doctrines, — in their hands, I say, we
are gratuitously placing weapons
of which they know not the fatal
power ; which they as yet want not,
neither ask for, because they are

ignorant of their existence." Yet
" the greater part of the edition
goes there, — and we thrust upon
them most deadly poison, knowing
that they have not the antidote by
which our ancestors were saved in
their hour of peril." (Maskell,
10, 11.)
All this is highly amusing and
suggestive. But I bridle my pen,
and will only say for Mr. Maskell's
consolation, that I have been obliged
to apply to the London market for
Martin ; that of the " thousands " of
this country — we are accustomed to
say " millions " — I doubt whether
threescore have ever read him ;
and that I am sure that in their own
wholesome, home-bred intelligence,
and in their large knowledge of
God's Word, they have a sufficient
" antidote." 8 " When a prohibition issued
that no person should carry about
them any of the Martin Mar-prelate
pamphlets on pain of punishment,
the Earl of Essex " (Robert) " ob
served to the queen, ' What, then,
is to become of me ? ' drawing one
of these pamphlets out of his bosom
and presenting it to her." (" Quar
rels of Authors," 516.)

294 MARTLN MAR-PRELATE. [CH. VH
books, if they could tell where to find them." 1 -- It
is strange how secretly they were printed, how
speedily dispersed, how' generally bought, how greed
ily read, yea, and how firmly believed, especially of
the common sort, to whom no music better than to
hear their betters upbraided." 2
The queen, having ordered special search for Mar
tin and his " complices," also issued a proclamation
on the thirteenth day of February, 1588-9, requiring
all copies of his books, and of others written against
the constitution and dignitaries of the Church, to be
delivered to the bishops, and by them destroyed;
and forbidding all persons to print, publish, distrib
ute, or keep any of the same, " as they would
answer the contrary at their utmost perils and upon
such pains and penalties as by the law might any
way be inflicted upon the offenders," which pains
and penalties she "minded to have severely exe
cuted." 3
In the month of August, 1589, the Archbishop,
while at Canterbury,4 had the satisfaction of hearing
that the press, type, and printers of the Martin Mar-
prelate tracts had been discovered and seized (by
Henry Earl of Derby) at Manchester,5 in the very
act of printing a new tract by Martin, entitled " More
Work for Cooper." 6 The persons arrested were
immediately sent prisoners to London.7 As soon as
his Grace heard of the arrest, he wrote an earnest
letter to Lord Burleigh, in which he said, " I could

i u >

; The Epitome," p. 2. " Fuller, Book IX. p. 194.
* Fuller, Book IX. p. 193. ° Strype's Whitgift, 288 ; Annals,
8 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, VI. 605.
Book III. No. XLI. ' Strype's Whitgift, 313.
4 Strype's Whitgift, 313.

Ch. VH] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 295
wish them " — the printers — " to be dealt with
according to their deserts, and the quality of their
offence. I wish also that it might be done rather
by their Lordships of the Council than by ourselves,"
— the bishops in the Ecclesiastical Commission.
This letter was dated "the 24 August, 1589." -
From the documents before us, it seems that
the printers arrested were Hodgkins, the master,
and his two men, Symms and Tomlyn;2 that they
were lodged in the Tower (as prisoners of state);8
that they were examined before Sir John Pucker
ing, the queen's serjeant-at-law, and others " com
missioners appointed for that purpose!' i We infer that
it was by the examination of these printers, that
the names of certain "complices" became known, —
Sir Richard Knightley, Sir Roger Wickstone and
Lady Wickstone his wife, Mrs. Crane, — all of whom
had provided harbor for the press, — Henry Sharpe,
the bookbinder, and Humfrey Newman, a secret
disperser of the books.5 All these persons, also, were
examined by the special commission, which seems
to have been appointed in compliance with the
Archbishop's request that the Ecclesiastical Com
missioners might be spared further odium. From
the unsatisfactory, because meagre, minutes of these
examinations, we transcribe only tlie simple but
honorable record concerning Mrs. Crane : " She re
fused to answer upon oath to any question ; either
concerning herself, for that, as she said, she would
not be her OAvn hangman ; or concerning others,
1 Strype's Whitgift, 314. Wadding- * Raid., 604.
ton's Penry, 55 ; from the original MS. * Ibid., 102.
• Strype's Annals, VI 605. ' Riid., lt»2, 602-60G.

296 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VH,
for that she could not in her conscience be the
accuser of others." :
Sir Richard Knightley, his nephew2 John Hales,
Sir Roger Wickstone, and Lady Wickstone, were
arraigned before the lords in the High Court of
Star-Chamber, "for maintaining seditious persons,
books, and libels." Sir Richard was fined tAvo thou
sand pounds ; Mr. Hales, a thousand marks ; Sir
Roger, for obeying his wife3 and not discovering
the press, five hundred marks ; Lady Wickstone, a
thousand pounds ; and all were sentenced to im
prisonment during her Majesty's pleasure.4 "Here
Archbishop Whitgift bestirred himself5 to improve
his interest Avith the queen till his importunity had
angered her, and till his importunity had pleased
her again, that they might be delivered out of
prison and eased of their -fines; which, upon their
submission, was performed. Whose mildness to
mediate for his adversaries, as it was highly com
mended by some, so there wanted not those who
imputed his moderation therein to declining of
envy, gaining of applause and remorse of his OAvn
conscience for over-rigorous proceedings ; it being
no charity to cure the Avound he had caused, and

1 Strype's Annals, VI. 605. said expressly, " he thought him
2 Hargrave, VII. 31. worthy of the greater punishment
a " AA'ickstone confessed that his for giving such a foolish answer, as
wife desired him to permit them a that he did it by his wife's desire."
home in his house, which he con- (Hargrave, A*H. 31, 32.)
sented unto." Upon this Hatton 4 Md., 29, 32.
remarked that " it was a silly an- s " Such was his mildness and
swer to say his wife desired him, a good nature," says Camden (421)
great folly to be ruled by her, and Suppose we should insert these
she passed the modesty of her sex words in our narrative of AViggin
to rule him " ; and Sir John Perrot ton's experience, — what then ?

Cn. vn.]

MARTIN MAR-PRELATE.

297

solicit the remitting of those fines he had pro
cured to be imposed."1
We find no account of any trial of the printers,
the disperser, or the binder of the books, nor of
the resolute Mrs. Crane ; unless, indeed, we ac
cept the statement — given without citation of any
authority — that " the printer and the disperser
were deeply fined in the Star-Chamber, and others
were put to death!' 2 The Archbishop interceded for

1 Fuller, Book IX. p. 194.
• Neal, I. 190.
I havo been surprised to find no
more than I have stated in the text
respecting the humbler parties in
this affair ; and the more, if the
statement of the execution of them
is true. I say, if it is true ; for Mr.
Neal, being the only writer I can
find who says so, and giving no au
thority for what he says, is fairly
questionable in a matter so grave.
I have not given tho date of the
trial in the Star-Chamber. In trying
to determine it, I have been baffled.
Taking Archbishop Whitgift's letter
of Aug. 24th, 1589, as a stand-point,
— and wo must rely upon its date
because Strypo and Waddington
(who copies from tho original MS.)
agree, — it is impossible to admit the
date assigned in Hargrave to the
trial of Knightley and others, Feb.
13th, 1588, i. e. 1588-9 ; for this, ac
cording to Whitgift's date, must have
been six months before the discov
ery of tho press. Again, to accept
this date is impossible,, because At
torney-General I'opham said, when
opening tho prosecution, " Her
Majesty, in February last, set forth
another Proclamation that all her
subjects might take warning." Ac-
VOL. in. 38

cording to the date which puzzles
me, these words were said on the
very day when her Majesty's Proc
lamation was dated. AVhat is more
singular, we find the same (nearly
the same) inadmissible date — Feb
ruary 15th, 1588-9 — assigned in
Strype's Annals (VI. 602) to the
examinations (which always pre
ceded trials) of Knightley and
others; and then, upon tho next
page, occur tho words (as in Har
grave), " Feb. last, 88," i. e. 1588-9.
Thus both in the State Trials and
in the minutes of the " examina
tions " by Sir John Puckering (in
Strype), erroneous dates have been
given. I have therefore placed the
examinations and the trial after
Whitgift's letter, and conceive that
they must have taken place in Au
gust and September, 1589. These
statements are necessary to justify
the order in the text for disagree
ing with documents of so high au
thority. I find the following in Nicholas's
Life of Hatton (pp. 485, 486).
" From her Majesty, Remembrances
to my Lord Treasurer, the second
of September, 1589  Item. The
examination of Martin Mar-prelate
to be thoroughly proceeded in." Yet

298 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VII
the gentry. Did his "mildness to mediate for his
adversaries " extend to all, — to simple as well as to
gentle ? Or did his Grace's " mildness " " have re
spect unto persons " ?
The great object — the discovery of Martin him
self — was not attained, nor was any clew to him
developed. None of the examinates knew who he
was. We cannot assent to the statement that " the
main drift and scope of these pamphlets " — of Mar
tin — "Avas to defame and disgrace the English prel
ates." 1 They contained, to be sure, more than enough
of insult, and more than enough of facts — poorly
explained, Avhen replied to — which told hard against
some of the bishops. But their main purpose and
chief burden were, to show the anti-Scriptural char
acter of prelacy, especially as comprising within it-
self an irresponsible and arbitrary power to punish.
We say, to show the anti-Scriptural character of
the prelacy, so accoutred ; not of the prelates. For
while Martin hesitates not to say, " You three," —
the Bishops of London, Exeter, and Winchester, —
" like furious and senseless brute beasts, 
spare none, but with tooth and nail cry out, ' Down
with that side that favoreth the Gospel so ! ' and
fetch them up with pursuivants." he expressly and
in the same breath declares that " Other bishops in
the land (only John Canterbury excepted), though
they serve at an inch in their place to maintain
in a note on page 486, it is said that thus: " 3rd August, 1589. Amemo-
the autograph in the State Paper rial by my Lord Chancellor."
Office is indorsed by Lord Burleigh ' Fuller, Book IX. p. 193.

Ca>VII] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 299
his Grace's pride and cruelty, to stay the course
of the Gospel, and to fetch in men within the
compass of subscription, yet are they those, for the
most part, that will imprison none and trouble
very few, unless it be for fear that, if they should
tolerate too much, they should have a check of
their worshipful Paltripolitan." 1
Of the scurrility of Martin, we have given abun
dant specimens. We have not been disposed either
to soften or to exaggerate it. Sarcasm, satire, and
even buffoonery have their peculiar offices and
their proper places. In some cases these rhetorical
auxiliaries are legitimate, and in some are only
feasible weapons. In the present case, other modes
having failed, and great suffering having been long
endured, there had been great provocation to try
what virtue there might be in nettles and stones.
But when, as here, sarcasm descends to sauciness,
satire to railing, and buffoonery to ribaldry, — espe
cially in religious affairs, — we make no apology for
these things, however great the provocation.2
But while we emphatically condemn, we must say,
1 "The Epitome," 88, 39. in his " Life of Hooker," says that
s Thomas Nash wrote against " he put a greater stop to these
Martin, attempting to compete with malicious pamphlets " — of Martin
him as a satirist. Nash was of St. — "than a much wiser man had
John's College, Cambridge, where been able." Collier (VII. 74) says
ho took his degree of B. A. in 1585. "he broke the enemy at two or
He is supposed to have quitted the three charges, and drove them out
University in disgrace about the of the field." Just as Cartwright
year 1586. (Petheram's Introdue- "drove" Whitgift; just as the king
tion to " An Almond for a Par- followed Madam Blaze. But no
rot.") His writings arc remarkable one knows to this day for what rea-
for their low satire and waggery; son Martin's pen was suspended.
but contain nothing fitted to cope Probably he had written all he
with the scholastic argument which wished.
abo'inds in Martin. Izaak Walton,

300 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VTL
what Martin's historical censors have always been
careful not to say, that in this sin he did not
stand alone or pre-eminent. John Aylmer could call
the Popish clergy '•' spiritual spiders " ; and Bonner,
who Avas a corpulent man, he titled " my* Lord Lub
ber of London." And his biographer — who is
shocked at Martin's indecency — has placed these
among Aylmer's choice sayings, as denoting his
" wisdom and judgment." 1 " Thou art an ass, an
idiot, and a fool!" said the same man, when him
self a bishop ; and he said it to a brother minister
of the Gospel of Christ.2 Mr. John Wilson, " a pious,
faithful and useful preacher," was thus addressed
by Dr. Walker, one of the Ecclesiastical Commis
sioners: "Thou art an ass; thou art a dolt; thou
art a beardless boy ! Thou hast neither learning
nor humanity in thee!"3 We have before stated,
that preachers before the Court accused their breth
ren — true men and honest — of schism, heresy, and
treason, and denounced some of them "by name as
wicked men, beasts, and devils." This, too, from
the pulpit!4 We have also found a minister of
the Precise school aspersing other ministers, his
neighbors, as " vipers, serpents, stingers, and insa
tiable beasts."5 "You are boys, pincokes, and will
you teach others?" said Bishop Alymer to certain
teachers of Christ. "If I had a boy in Cambridge
who would make such reasons, I Avould britch him."
To another minister, venerable for his character
and years, '¦' You are a fool ; hold your peace ! " —
1 Strype's Aylmer, 273, 275. 4 Ante, Vol. I. p. 498.
* Brook, I. 226. 6 Ante, Vol. II. p. 292.
* Ibid., 355.

Ch. VII.] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 301
and of another, " Have him away ! Let him go
home and scold his wife ! " a But enough of this.
If, as has been said, — and we assent to it, — if " the
rudeness of some in resisting the bishops 
is not to be read to this day without disgust," 2
the same is true of the rudeness of the bishops and
other zealous conformists in resisting their brethren.
If Martin lived in a house of glass, so did many
of the straitest Precisians. If he sinned against
good taste and good manners and Christian moral
ity, so did they.3
It is perhaps with more feeling than should guide
a historical pen, certainly with more than we will
express, that we find annalists whose sympathies
are- with the Elizabethan prelacy ignoring both the
Scriptural and the secular pleas of Martin against
the State hierarchy ; gleaning scraps of his most
offensive language;4 and presenting the disjointed
collection as the product and index of the Puritan
spirit, as language approved by the Puritan party.
Others, of like sympathies, — describing his pamphlets
only in general as " hateful libels," as " belchings so
scurrilous that the authors might seem to have been
rather scullions than pious and godly men,"5 — have
1 Pierce, 111. Church ritual by the same name.
* Nares, III. 67. I have done so in violation of his-
* " Tho Precisians " was a term torical parlance, because the term
applied in Elizabeth's day to those was, and has continued to be, one
who desired a reform in the Church, of reproach ; and because " the
It was grossly misapplied, and for punctilious enforcers of conformity"
the purpose of exciting odium. It were really the Precise men.
has been perpetuated as synony- 4 Strype's "Whitgift, 290, 298.
mous with " Puritans," and with Heylin's Presb., Book XIII. See.
the odium attached. I have there- 26, 27.
fore taken tho liberty to designate * Camden, 421.
¦ticklers for the precise forms of tho .

302 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VH.
not hesitated in plain terms to charge their author
ship upon the more prominent Puritans of the day, —
Throgmorton, Wigginton, Travers, Cartwright, Penry,
and Udal.1
We have given our extracts from Martin's Papers,
that the sin thus laid at the Puritan door may be
fairly understood; and that it may be fairly under
stood how great is the libel, if it be a libel, which
the annalists referred to have deliberately written.
Between the two, there is a sin, — upon the Puri
tans the sin of foul language, or, upon the partisan
writers, the sin of wrongfully, and upon rumor
merely, charging the other sin upon the Puritans.
We cannot pass over this matter without inqui
sition. "We lay no stress upon the fact that Martin inci
dentally — and it would therefore seem to have been
done without art — distinguishes between himself
and the Puritan party as pointedly as between him
self and the prelatic. Some instances in which he
has done so we have given in his own words. Oth
ers we omit as unnecessary. Yet it is a circum
stantial fact, which may perhaps corroborate other
evidence. Such expressions indicate to a certain
degree that the writer did not class himself with
" the admirers of the discipline of Geneva," as
Camden describes those with whom these tracts
originated. 1 Sir Geo. Paule, Sec. 62. Cam- IX. p. 194) merely states in passing,
den, 420. Strype's AVhitgift, 289. and without giving his own opinion,
Strype's Annals, VI. 94. Heylin's that " John Penry and John Udal,
Presb., Book VIII. See. 24. Collier, ministers, were accused " — i. e. by
VII. 73, and note. Hume III. 254, common fame, a fact of which there
Appendix III. Nares, III. 342, was no doubt — " for making some
note. Maskell, 100. Fuller (Book of them."

Ch. VH] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 303
But there are passages in Martin of more weight,
some of which appear in his second tract. We mean
his repeated declarations that the Puritans, particu
larly their preachers, disapproved of his writings.1
Such public acknowledgments the writer would by
no means have ventured if untrue, for his opponents
would instantly have thrown the lie in his teeth.
But more : these assertions are sustained. The very
leaders among the Puritans whom Church writers
have charged with being the authors of these
pamphlets disavowed them distinctly, with the sin
gle exception of Travers, who was removed from
the stage of controversy, being then Provost of
Trinity College in Dublin.2
Mr. Throgmorton, in his "Defence" — which he
published in the year 1594 — "against the Slanders
of Matthew Sutcliff, " 3 says : " I will for my clearing
therein (whensoever it shall be thought good by the
State) willingly take this oath, as I have before of
fered, viz. that I am not Martin, that I know not
Martin, and concerning that I stand indicted of, I
am as clear as the child unborn." 4 We have already
given Mr. Wigginton's declaration before the High
Commissioners, — "I did neither make, write, nor
print it," — Martin, — " nor any part of it, or see
any part before it was printed."
In a letter to Lord Burleigh (Oct. 4th, 1590), Mr.
Cartwright wrote, "I never had any hand, or so
much as a finger, in the book under Martin's name.
 I am able to make good proof that from the
first beginning of Martin unto this day I have con-
1 " Epitome," 2 bis. " Hay any J Brook, II. 329.
Work for Cooper," 9, 41 ; and in * Ibid., 361.
other tracts. 4 AA'addington's Penry, 230.

K n

304 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VII.
tinually, upon occasion, testified both my mislike
and sorrow for such kind of disordered proceed
ing." 1 Yet we are gravely told that " Cartwright
was either of the council in the first design '' of
Martin's pamphlets, "or without doubt a great ap
prover of them upon the post-fact" ;2 that "he ap
proved of them, and well kneAV the concealed writers,
who frequently consulted him."3
When the first book of Martin came out, " Penry,
understanding that some gave him out to be the
author, wrote a letter to a friend in London, wherein
he denied it in such terms as declare him to be igno
rant and clear in it."4 Penry also, when having
death distinctly before him, declared himself to
haA*e been "falsely charged with the compiling of
Martin Mar-prelate " ; " denied that he had been
concerned in writing those tracts." 5
Mr. Udal, when on trial for his life, was yet more
full and explicit. " For Martin and the rest of those
books that 3*011 have named, they were never approved
by the godly learned. And I am fully persuaded
that those books were not done by any minister ; and
I think there is never a minister in this land that
doth know who Martin is. And I, for my part, have
been inquisitive, but I could never learn who he is." 6
Such declarations from such men are worthy of

1 Strype's AVhitgift, Appendix, 6 Hanbury, I. 79, note. Maskell,
Book IV. No. I. 107, 108. Yet Mr. Hallam (125,
2 Heylin's Presb., Book VHL note) has written, " Penry seems
Sec. 24. not to deny his concern in Martin
* DTsraeli, " Quarrels of Au- Mar-prelate."
thors," 512, note (London, 1859). ° Hargrave, I. 178. Howell, I.
4 Udal before Lord Cobham and 1294.
others; Howell, I. 1273. Hargrave,
I. 169.

Ch. VII., MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 305
consideration and confidence. He is a rare nir.n
who will impeach their word, and a dull man who
does not perceive and appreciate the distinct points
of their testimony. That the Puritans universally
disapproved of Martin, we do not contend. It
would have been strange indeed if, of so large a
number,— all of whom had the infirmities of hu
man nature, and many of whom Avere smarting all
over from the severities of the ecclesiastical magis
trates, — not one approved the style in which Martin
whipped their persecutors. Thus Mr. Udal indi
rectly admitted that some good but 2»dearned men
might have commended Martin ; and Mr. Fuller
states that "some precise men of that side thought
these jeering pens well employed." 1 But the prom
inent Puritan clergy were free from all complicity
with Martin, and never gave him their approval.
Nor was this all. They denounced him. They did
so "then," upon the very appearance of his Papers.
They did so in deliberative .assembly, Avhere, after
solemn discussion of what Martin had written, they
passed this resolution : " That, for many foul false
hoods therein suggested, such books were altogether
unbeseeming a pious spirit to print, publish, or with
pleasure peruse ; which, supposed true both in mat
ter and measure, charity would rather conceal than
discover." a Once more. When CartAvright and eight
1 Book IX. p. 198. ing the reader to judge whether, or
' Ibid. In recording this resolu- not, I have represented them truly.
tion, Fuller says, " I speak on certain " But the more discreet and devout
knowledge from the mouths of such sort of men, even such as were no
whom I must believe." As I havo great friends of the hierarchy, upon
taken the liberty, for the sake of solemn debate then resolved that,
perspicuity, to paraphrase his ac- for many foul falsehoods," &c.
count, I here quote his words, leav-
Vou in. 89

306 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ch. VII.
other prominent Puritan clergy were on trial in the
Star-Chamber, it Avas deposed by certain other Puri
tans in their behalf, " That the defendants have dis
allowed the immodest and scandalous writings of
Martin." -
We might suppose that the testimony Avhich Ave
have thus displayed Avould be sufficiently clear and
creditable to give satisfaction ; at least sufficient to
show that "the great Puritan leaders, when these
tracts first appeared, spoke of them with deep dissatis
faction."2 But we regret to say that it is not so.
We regret to find that a modern Churchman can
yet aver — whether blindly or perversely we assume
not — that the chief Puritans were consenting to
" the experiment " of Martin, and took no dislike to
it " until dislike was produced by fear that their
experiment was about to fail, — that it had over
reached the mark and had disgusted men." We
regret that he " does not remember that any disap
proval was plainly expressed at the time by the Puri
tan leaders"; that he can only remember that "they
disclaimed Martin after, before the Council-board, with
the terrors in the distance of the ToAver and the
rack, or before the Court of High Commission." 3
This is only saying, that such men as Cartwright,
Udal, and Penry — who were among the most dis
tinguished of their day as scholars, as Christians, as
Christian noblemen and Christian heroes — were
double-faced timeservers ; that before tribunals they
were craven, and that they there stated what they
knew to be false touching matters of fact. We
1 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, 2 Marsden, 198.
p. 166. - Maskell, 101, 102.

Ch. Vn.] MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. 307
are sorry to find that at this day — when the preju
dices and antipathies of olden times have seem
ingly become obsolete, and the jaundiced vision of
ecclesiasticism hale, when the Bishop of London,
his Grace of Canterbury, and the queen herself, are
manifesting the most catholic spirit towards dissent
ers — even one can be found so tainted with the
spirit of bygone controversy, or so ignorant of his
torical records, as to publish such statements to the
world.1 We should have done the Puritans wrong had we
shrunk from an ample exhibition of Martin's scur
rility. We should have failed to show how great is
the stigma which has been attached to their name
as originators or approvers of his books. We trust
we have made it appear that in no degree, and at
no time, were the Puritan leaders or the Puritans
as a body responsible for his pen. If we have failed.
it has not been for lack of Avitnesses.
' If I havo been moved to heat, After the evidence which I have
as I certainly have to a course of brought forward in the text, it is
remark beyond my wont, yet I am unnecessary to remark upon the
sure that to do Mr. Maskell justice statements of DTsraeli, " Quar-
requircs a power of language of rcls of authors," 512, note, 518
which I am not master. I have note.
not treated him as he treats Mr. It is often charged upon the
Neal, by saying that his words Puritans, that they chose " to scat-
" provo cither his utter ignorance ter their scandalous pamphlets "
or his wilful lying," because I think just when the nation were threat-
such an opinion uncharitable and encd by the powerful forces of
«uch language indecorous. But I am Spain ; and that they thus lost the
confident that I havo not unfairly friendship of Leicester and Wal-
rcpresented what Mr. Maskell says, singham. (E. g. Collier, VII. 74.)
On p. 21C he adds, "It is acknowl- Yet Leicester had died, and the
edged that the Martin Mar-prolate Spanish forces had been shattered
tracts were connived at by the into fragments several weeks before
leaders of the Puritan party." AVo Martin's first tract appeared.
have a right to ask, — AVhen ?
Where? Bv whom?

308 MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. [Ca VII.
We believe Martin when he says; " I am alone.
No man undei heaven is privy, or hath been privy,
unto my writings against you."1 We also believe
him when he says, " Whosoever Martin is, neither
thou nor any man or woman in England shall know
while you live, suspect and trouble as many as you
will." 2 We believe him, because the experiment in
which he was engaged involved too great a risk to
admit of partnership or confidant, for we think that,
had he been discovered, he Avould have suffered, not
the death of a felon, but the awful penalty of a
traitor. We believe him, because, notwithstanding
the vigorous efforts for his detection, his identity has
never been proved, never even indicated. This it is
hard to account for, unless, indeed, he wrought alone,
and made nor man nor woman his confidant. We
have cited plausible evidence that he was not a
minister, and that he was not a Puritan, — we mean
in distinction from a Brownist. Further we cannot
go. With himself died his secret. Martin Mar-prel
ate remains a mystery. " Stat Nominis Umbra."
1 " Hay any Work for Cooper," 41, 42. * Ibid., 12.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9.
The Nation restored to Quiet. — The Opening of Parliament. — An
EXTRAORDINARY SUPPLY GRANTED BY THE COMMONS. — ABUSES OF PUR
VEYANCE and in the Court of Exchequer. — Bills against them. — A
Committee to justify the Bills to her Majesty and to urge her
Allowance of them. — Her Reply. — Conferences upon these Abuses
between the l.ords and the commons. — motion against grievances
in the Church. — Retained and returned by the Speaker. — Bill
aoainst Pluralities. — Debate upon it in the House of Lords. — Par
liament dissolved. — Remarks upon their Proceedings.
The camp at Tilbury had been broken up. The
troops under command of Lord Hunsdon had been
disbanded. The armed ships had been moored and
dismantled. " The Heart of the Court " — " that ter
restrial Lucifer " — had been sent foully to his ac
count. The queen, shedding a few hasty tears, had
ordered the public sale of his goods to meet the
claims of her exchequer ; 1 and his Countess was
already preparing for her nuptials with her reputed
paramour.2 The pulse of the nation, so lately
throbbing with martial fervor, had subsided to its
natural tone ; and the voice of the nation had ren
dered its joyous anthem of praise. In the month
of August, the queen had reassembled her Court at
St. James's, whence, after a grand military review
1 Rapin, II. 137. Carte, III. 629. "Lives of the Lord Chancellors,"
1 Birch, I. 56, 74. Campbell's (First Series,) 11. 146.

310 THE PARLIAMENT OE 1588-9. TOh. VTfl.
by Avay of welcome, she had retired to her manor
at Bichmond.1 From the peasant to the prince, all
had exchanged the harness of war for their ordinary
garb ; and each rill of life throughout the land had
resumed its wonted and peaceful flow.
Her Majesty remained at her favorite retreat
until the thirtieth day of January, 1588-9, when
she returned to Westminster to be in readiness
for the assembling of a new Parliament. She came
in the evening, that she might give opportunity
for one of those gay welcomes often mentioned
in the annals of 'her reign, when the mayor, alder
men, and commoners of her city of London would
come out on horseback, Avearing velvet coats and
golden chains, to escort her by torchlight to her
palace.2 On the fourth day of February, with all that
public pomp which we have before described,3 she
proceeded to the chamber of the House of Lords
to open her Parliament. Sir Thomas Bromley, the
late Lord Chancellor, had deceased on the tAventy-
ninth day of April, 158 7,4 and the Great Seal had
been immediately transferred to the custody of
Sir Christopher Hatton.
At the opening of the Parliament he stated
that there was every reason to look for another
hostile expedition from the king of Spain ; and
that therefore to the assembly of the wisest of the
kingdom the question was now submitted, what
ways and means should be provided for the com-

1 Stow, 750, 751. * Antgj yo] j pp g71 _373.
* Ibid., 751. « D'Ewes, 419.

Ch. VIH.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. 311
mon defence.1 When the election of the Speaker
of the Commons was ratified, the Lord Chancellor
replied to his petitions, that her Majesty was pleased
to grant them all. But he added an admonition
against any unreverent and misbecoming speech in
the discussions of the House ; 2 and laid upon them
her Majesty's special inhibition against any dealing
with causes ecclesiastical.3
During the session, the Commons responded to
the wants of the Crown for purposes of defence,
by "granting to her Majesty a supply of four fif
teenths and tenths and two entire subsidies," in
four annual instalments ; 4 " the first instance that
subsidies Avere doubled in one supply."5 The bill,
however, was accompanied by this resolution : " That,
as the grant of this contribution is greater than
hath heretofore for the most part ordinarily used
to be granted (the present necessity requiring it),
it should not hereafter be an occasion of a precedent to
posterity for the like without like cause."0 Grave
objections were made by many7 to a supply so
extraordinary.8 But the House — their joy for the
late deliverance of the nation, and their loyalty in
prospect of renewed hostilities, raised to a high pitch
of. enthusiasm — were in no mood to weigh even

1 D'Ewes, 420, 428. Hansard, I. inquiring reader to Hume, III. 877-
854. 380, and to Hallam, 213, note.
1 D'Ewes, 421. Hansard, I. 854. • D'Ewes, 433.
' D'Ewes, 438. ' Strype's Annals, VI. 49.
' 31 Eliz., Cap. XV. Sees. I. & VI. B There was an elaborate speech
Statutes of the Realm. against it, and one of much perti
* Hume, III. 177. nence and force. Stnpe give* us
For the nature and amount of a copy of it, Annals. AT., Appen-
lubsidies and fifteenths, I refer the dix, Book II. No. LA 111.

312 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. [Ch. VIII
the best objectional arguments. They passed the
bill on the tenth day of March ; and the next day
it was sent up to the Lords.1
" The right of purveyance " — which we have be
fore brought to notice only incidentally 2 — '• Avas
an ancient prerogative by Avhich the officers of the
Crown could at pleasure take provisions for the
household from all the neighboring counties, and
could make use of the carts and carriages of the
farmers.3 In former times, these supplies had been
taken without remuneration, and the purveyors had
ordinarily conducted themselves Avith so much rude
ness, and even licentiousness, that upon their ap
proach the farmers, Avith their families, had been
accustomed to hide for protection in the forests.4
For such abuses, this right of purA'eyance had been
denounced by Parliament in the time of EdAvard ni.
as " an intolerable and outrageous grievance, and
the source of infinite damage to the people."5 In
the time of Elizabeth, the mode of this arbitrary
levy Avas so far modified, that a price was paid for
the commodities seized, and for their compulsory
transportation. But this price, instead of keeping
pace Avith the rise of the market, was fixed and
stated ; so that the farmer in 1589 Avas forced to
part with his produce for far less than its current
value. In addition to this wrong, " the payment
was often distant and uncertain " ; 6 the levy itself,
both in kind and Quantity, Avas often beyond the

1 D'Ewes, 444, 445. ' Ibid., I. 218.
' Ante, Vol. II. p. 1 39, note 2. s Ibid., 608.
3 Hume, III. 1 78. « Ibid., IH. 178.

Ch. VHL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. 313
allowance of law ; and, not unfrequently, black-mail
was extorted for the benefit of the officer.1
Another abuse existed. Grievous wrongs had ob
tained in the revenue department. The officers
of the Exchequer habitually extorted illegal fees
from the queen's subjects ; and these exactions
were for their private benefit, " nothing tending to
any further profit or commodity of her Majesty."2
The vigilant Commons now took these abuses in
hand. A bill was introduced by Sir Edward Hobby
" touching exactions by officers of the Exchequer " ;
and on the same day, another by Mr. John Hare,
"against the great abuses of purveyors."8 The
latter was in lieu of a like bill which had passed
the Commons at the last Parliament, was sent up
to the Lords, and there dashed.4 Each bill Avas dis
cussed with becoming spirit, committed and amend
ed.5 It is noticeable that the Chancellor of the
Exchequer was chairman of the committee to A\-hom
the bill touching that Court was referred, and that
he cordially furthered its progress. Another chief
officer of the same Court " did very willingly and
honestly give his assent and good liking to the
passing of the bill."6 These two facts signally
evince its justness and its popularity. In justi
fication of the bill against the disorders of purvey
ors, it appeared in evidence that " those abuses
were very many and very . foul." 7 Both bills passed
the House, and were sent up to the Lords.8
1 Hume, III. 675, Note X. • Ibid., 434, 435, 437, 438.
• D'Ewes, 432, 446, 450. " Ibid., 437, 438.
' Ibid., 432. ' Ibid., 448.
1 Ibid., 414, 433. • Ibid., 440.
VOL. III. 40

314 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. [Cn. VIII
Their committee soon afterwards informed the
Commons, that the Lord Treasurer had signified
the queen's misliking of each bill.1 Whereupon the
House immediately appointed a committee to Avait
upon her Majesty- to satisfy her concerning their
dealings in both bills  "and also to search
for such precedents as might best serve for that
purpose."2 The committee Avere particularly in
structed to " exhibit unto her Majesty the causes
and reasons moving the House to proceed in the
two bills as they had done ; Avhich course was
thought  best to stand with the liberties and honor
of the House."3 They were also directed to pe
tition her Highness to grant her alloivance of the
said bills ; and to say that they would gladly have
taken any other course therein which might have
been more agreeable to her Majesty.4
In replying to this delegation, her Majesty stated
that she had ordered the late Lord SteAvard5 to
ascertain and redress the misdemeanors of purvey
ors in all places ; but the proceedings had been
interrupted by the late attempt of the king of
Spain. She added, that having as much skill, will,
and poAver to rule and govern her own household
without the help of others as her subjects had to
rule and govern theirs, it was her present intent,
out of pure love and affection for her dutiful and
loving subjects, to take advice — -- Yea, and that
before the end of this present session " — of her
judges and learned Council for such a mode of
1 D'Ewes, 440. 4 Ibid., 443.
s Ibid. ' The Earl of Leicester.
8 Ibid., 442.

Ch. VHI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 158&-9. . 315
redress as should proA*e more effectual than what
the Commons had devised without her privity ;
whereby they would have bereaved her of the
honor, glory, and commendation due to her own
voluntary efforts. Touching the Exchequer, it was
her chamber, she said, and so more near to her
than the household ; and that in the tenth year
of her reign she had set down rules for the due
regulation of such things as her subjects seemed to
be grieved for.1
Having thus the royal promise to search out a
mode for correcting the abuses of purveyors, and
an implied promise that the rules for obviating ex
actions in the Court of Exchequer should be en
forced, neither the Lords nor the Commons could
take further action upon the bills Avithout grossly
reflecting upon , the honor of the queen. There
was further conference, hoAvever, betAveen commit
tees of both Houses, upon the subjects embraced
in the bills ; but these conferences Avere held after
the bills had been concluded in the Commons, and
"according to her Majesty's pleasure signified unto
the Commons by their Speaker."2 Her Majesty
had been wary in her conference with the comm.it-
1 D'Ewes, 444. as she only promised to take counsel
Mr. Hume givos a singular ver- for redressing one class of them.
sion of this address. By tho trans- He represents her as saying, that
position of a sentence, he repre- she " would not permit " the Com-
sents the queen as promising to take nions to do as they had done i
counsel for securing tho objects of whereas she only complained that,
both bills ; whereas she made this by so doing, they were in a way to
promise only in reference to the forestall her own action and the
abuses practised by her purveyors, honor which might otherwise accrue
Ho represents her as promising that to herself.
tho grievances complained of in * D'Ewes, 448, 450
both bills should be redressed ; where-

316

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9.

[Ch. VIII.

tee, so framing her speech as not to pledge her
royal Avord for any reform at all. Thus she saved
herself from any breach of promise ; for she cer
tainly gave no redress during her whole reign to
the Avrongs practised by her purveyors,1 nor do
we find that she did to those in the Exchequer.2
While doing all in their power to stay these
civil abuses, the Commons Avere not unmindful of
such as Avere ecclesiastical. On the twenty-fifth day
of February, Mr. Damport (or Davenport) 3 called
the attention of his colleagues to certain evils in
the government of the Church ; having special refer
ence, Ave haA*e reason to believe, to the tyrannical
dealings of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.4 Sun
dry of her Majesty's good subjects, he said, suffered

' Hume, III. 675, Note X.
2 D'Ewes says (p. 448) " that
this House had been forbidden by
her Majesty to deal any further
therein," i. e. in these two bills.
I think this is a mere conjecture,
and without foundation. If she did
so before the bills were passed, then
her special inhibition was set at
defiance ; a defiance which must
have produced commotion, and of
which record would surely have
been made. If she did so after
the bills were passed, then the in
hibition was derogatory to her roy
alty, for no further dealing could
have been had unless the bills had
been returned from the Lords with
amendments ; to prevent which, her
Majesty took effectual measures.
D'Ewes says further (p. 450),
" that these two bills were slopped,"
i. e. in the Commons, " by reason
of her Majesty's dislike." This cer
tainly is a mistake ; for they had

both passed the Commons, and had
been sent up to the Lords before her
Majesty's dislike was made known.
(p. 440.) I find no evidence that
the queen interfered at all until
the bills had been sent to the Upper
House. AA*e find it stated in Hansard's
Parliamentary History (I. 857),
that these two bills passed into laws
this Parliament. Where are the
laws? In the Parliament of 1592-3,
we find it stated by Sir John For
tescue, that the oppressions by pur
veyors were not then mitigated.
" Shortly (by God's grace) the
queen will free her subjects from
that trouble which hath come by
means of purveyors." (D'Ewes,
473.) 3 Townshend's Historical Collec
tions, p. 20. Mr. Townshend was
himself a member of this House.
4 Hume, IH. 178.

Ch. VTIL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. 317
great hurt and grievances at the hands of some
ecclesiastical governors whose mode of proceeding
was contrary both to .the purport of the laws and
to the intent of those who framed them. He dis
claimed all intent of making any new laws, or of
repealing those now in force, of which he did not
complain. He proposed only that some device
should be framed by which the existing laws
should be administered properly, and according to
their true intent. For this purpose he offered a
motion in writing, and asked that it might be
read and committed for such further consideration
and dealing as the House should judge proper.
" Such an action," exclaimed a member, " -will surely
bring this House into trouble. We have had her
Majesty's express inhibition, delivered by the Lord
Chancellor at the beginning of this session, touch
ing any dealing with ecclesiastical causes. This
House will surely incur contempt to her Highness
if, contrary to that inhibition, we deal in the mat
ter now proposed." The Speaker, therefore, did not
read the motion, but retained it three weeks. He
then returned it to Mr. Damport when out of doors.1
Thus no action was taken upon the motion. Not
being laid before the House by the Speaker, no
opportunity was given to second it, or to discuss
it. There must have been some good reason, to
us unknown, why the subject was not introduced
again, and in some other form. But we cannot
charge the future silence of the House herein to
their want of courage. The reference to the queen's
inhibition, hoAvever much it may have influenced
1 D'Ewes, 138..439. Strype's AVhitgift, 279.

318 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. TCh. Vm
the Speaker, certainly did not intimidate them, for
they immediately bearded that inhibition by intro
ducing and carrying through a bill upon other eccle
siastical matters.1
Hopeless as was the prospect of "clipping the
Avings of the spiritual governors " 2 which Mr. Dam-
port's motion contemplated, the Puritans in the Com
mons again sought to remedy "the great abuse of
the Church of England, — pluralities," 3 — not discour
aged by their previous failure.4 Two days after Mr.
Damport's motion, a bill was introduced "for refor
mation of the great inconveniences grown by the
great number of pluralities and non-residents." "Af
ter sundry arguments, many with and some against
the bill," it passed the House, and on the tenth day
of March was sent up to the Lords.5 This bill,
which was framed by Sir Francis Knollys, Mr. Mor-
1 I have shaped this paragraph account of this contempt." I shall
with particular reference to the show that there was no " submis-
remark of Mr. Hume (III. 1 78), sion " by the House ; and I am hy
that " no one durst second the mo- no means satisfied that any of them
tion." He has overlooked entirely were committed to custody. If any
the subject which I next introduce, were, it is the first and only time
Had he mentioned it, he would when such a fact does not appear
hardly have ventured, I think, to upon the Journal, and when it did
say, " no one durst." Mr. Hallam not excite the Commons to inquiry
seems to coincide with Mr. Hume, and remonstrance. On this point,
by saying that the mention of the Mr. Hume refers to Strype's Life
queen's inhibition "prevented them of AVhitgift, and to Neal. But I
from taking any further notice of cannot find a word of such a mat-
Mr. Damport's motion." (Hallam, ter in Strype ; and Mr. Neal makes
152.) the statement without citing any
I notice also another statement authority.
of Mr. Hume in connection with * Strype's AVhitgift, 279.
this affair. He says that "some * Hallam, 116, note.
members of the House, notwith- l Ante, Vol. H pp. 478-480,
standing the general submission, " D'Ewes, 440, 444. Strype's
were even committed to custody on Whitgift, 279.

Cn VIII.1 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. 319
rice, Mr. Beal, Sir Bobert Jermin, and others,1 did
not propose to disturb any existing rights ; in other
words, it did not propose to disturb any parsons then
in legal possession of more than one benefice. But
it required that all who had any one benefice with
cure of souls should reside thereon ; that all who had
already more than one such benefice should reside
upon one of them ; that, if voluntarily absent at
one or several times so much as three months in
the year (not being employed in the queen's ser
vice), they should forfeit ten pounds per month for
every month exceeding three ; and that for their
other benefice or benefices they should maintain, for
each, one competent preacher, under penalty of five
pounds for every month's defect. It also provided,
that if any person then having no such benefice
should thereafter take more than one, or if any per
son, having at the end of the session one or more
benefices with cure, should accept another, then
immediately after possession there, his first should
be void. It provided, however, that any person
might take two small benefices Avith cure, being of
sixteen pounds value, if within three miles of each
other.2 Non-residence upon at least one half their cures
Avas a necessity with all Avho held tAvo or more bene
fices. Consequently, the spiritual Avants of the peo
ple Avere to a like extent neglected, and the checks
proposed by this bill AA-ere but reasonable and mod
erate. Yet its introduction to the House of Lords
produced much sensation, and gave rise to a signifi
cant and racy colloquy. The Archbishop of Canter-
1 D'Ewes, 441, 442. * Strype's Annals, VI. 54.

320 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. [Cn. VIE
bury held that the scheme was fantastical, and at
war with the interests of the clergy and of learning,
— considerations Avhich he had urged during the
Parliament of 1584-5,1 but which had then been dis
tinctly and sufficiently answered.2 This bill brought
him once more to his feet.
" Licenses for non-residence," said he, " are but
seldom granted. But sometimes they are necessary,
and for various reasons. Sometimes the incumbent,
for his health's sake, needeth to reside elsewhere
than where he hath spiritual charge. Sometimes he
needeth to prosecute his studies for a time in the
University. Sometimes he is fain to escape annoy
ance from some in his parish who bear him mortal
enmity ; and sometimes he is called away by being
employed in public affairs. For these reasons such
licenses cannot be wholly abrogated. But besides,
one half of the benefices in England do not stand
in the first-fruits book over ten pounds, and most
of them under eight pounds. Therefore these
parishes, because of the smallness of their livings,
cannot be furnished with able pastors as the peti
tioners desire. They who make such a cry for a
better ministry, ought to remember that England
hath now a greater number of able ministers than
ever before, and than all Christendom besides."
His Grace did not intimate that these small liv
ings might easily be increased. He did not deign
to notice that the Puritans, in a petition to the Par
liament of 1584-5, had propounded a simple and
practicable method by Avhich sufficient livings for
the maintenance of pastors in every parish might
1 Strype's AVhitgift, 279. ' Ante, Vol. II. p. 478, note 5, p. 479.

Ch. VIII] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. 321
be provided.1 He did not say that the people were
able and willing to supply the leanness of the liv
ings by their voluntary contributions, and that in
many cases they did so.2 He did not see fit to
notice that there were many suspended ministers
who would be glad of the smallest of these livings
could they hold them in peace.3 Yet of all these
things he Avas well informed. His assertion concern
ing the number of able ministers was tauntingly
improved. "If there be more learned ministers in the Church
of England than ever heretofore," said Lord Grey,
" nay, than in all the reformed Churches in Christen
dom, it is not to be attributed to the bishops or their
actions, but to God, who now openeth the hearts of
many to see into the truth. Besides, the schools
are better observed."
Neither the petitioners for the bill, nor the people
at large, complained that there was not a sufficient
number of able ministers in England. But they
did complain, had before complained, and had good
reason to complain, that very many congregations
had none to break to them the bread of life ; that
many of the incumbents were mere reading minis
ters, many of whom could hardly read intelligibly,
and many of whom were immoral ; that thus thou
sands of parishes were destitute of preaching and
teaching ; 4 and that, to a great degree, this deplora
ble destitution existed only because the mouths of
1 Strype's Annals, VI., Appen- Several other instances of the kind
dix, Book I. No. XXXIX.; Arti- are incidentally mentioned by
oles IV., V., VI., VII. Brook.
* Lord Burleigh aided in these * Neal, I. 174.
contributions. (Brook, II. 109, bis.) * Ante, Vol. II. pp. 457-459.
vol. in. 41

322 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. [Ch. VTH
good and able pastors were stopped by the bishops.'
Indeed, to such an extent had their proscription
been carried, that "there were only tAvo thousand
preachers to serve nearly ten thousand parish
churches ; so that there were almost eight thou
sand parishes Avithout preaching ministers." A
third part of the ministers of England were under
suspension.2 Lord Burleigh made a long and ^ole speech upon
the bill. '•' I am not so scrupulous, ' said he, in con
clusion, " as absolutely to bke of the bill so far that
I would admit of no pluralities at all, for I do both
favor learning, and wish for it a competent reward.
Therefore I could like and allow a man of learn
ing to have two benefices, so they were both in nne
diocese." At this point of the debate, it was signified that
her Majesty was acquainted with the matter now
before the Senate, that she was very forward to
redress what was amiss, and that she required the
bishops not to hinder her good and gracious pur
pose, for herself would confer with them. This
intervention of the queen seems to have been occa
sioned by an appeal from the Convocation, which
was dictated, if not written, by the Archbishop.3
The alarm expressed by the clergy, and the respect
with which the bill was entertained by the temporal
lords, show clearly that the evils which it sought to
remedy Avere great and patent, and that it would
probably have passed the Upper House in a modified
form, had they been left to themselves. But the
1 Ante, Vol. H p. 458. ' Strype's AVhitgift, 280. Fuller,
'Neal, L 181. Book IX. p. 191.

Cb. VIII.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. 323
queen's message stopped its further progress. A
few more words transpired, not upon the bill, but
upon her Majesty's purpose of conferring with the
bishops. "I marvel," exclaimed Lord Grey, "that her Ma
jesty doth choose to confer with those who are all
enemies to reformation. I therefore think it were well
that we make choice of some of the temporal lords
to be joined with the lords spiritual. Nay, I do
rather wish the bishops might be served as they
were in the days of King Henry VIII., whenas
they were all thrust out of doors, being in case
of prcemunire."
-- If the bishops are wise," said the Lord Treasurer,
" they will themselves be humble suitors to her
Majesty to have some of the temporal lords joined
with them in conference with her Majesty."1
So little respect did the bishops command from
their peers ! Flouted before the whole House for
their inefficiency in supplying the spiritual wants
of the realm, for their dogged opposition to all
ecclesiastical reform, and for their utter unfitness
to be counsellors of the sovereign in the affairs
of the Church !
On the other hand, by the temporal lords the bill
was received with deference and sympathy. In the
same manner and spirit they had conferred with the
Commons touching the abuses by purveyors and
the officers of the Exchequer. So also had they con-

1 I derive my account of these That he is wrong in this date, is
proceedings in tho House of Lords evident from Strype's AVhitgift,
from Fuller, Book IX. p. 190. He 279 - 281.
gives them under date of 1587.

"T

324 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. [Ch. Vm
ferred with them in 1584 upon the articles of pe
tition then presented for ecclesiastical reform ; feel-
ingly expressing their sorrow for the grievances
set forth,1 and " ready to aid with their best efforts
for the reformation thereof.2 From these facts —
and from others Avhich Ave have recorded — it is
plain that the temporal peers rendered to the Puri
tans, when struggling for reforms, a respect and
sympathy which they withheld from the prelates;
that while by the latter, and by their partisan his
torians, the Puritans have ever been stigmatized as
captious and seditious in their controversies with
the Church, by the former they were cordially met
as reasonable, peaceable, loyal, and honorable men.
After a request from both Houses, that the queen
would be pleased to denounce open war against
the Spanish king, the Parliament was dissolved on
the twenty-ninth day of March, A. D. 1589.3
In sketching the proceedings of this House of
Commons, we have hardly exceeded the bounds of
simple narrative. In justice to those of whom we
write, we are compelled to a brief review. The
grand evil which engrossed their attention was
the abuse of poiver ; and against this they set their
faces. Other Houses of Commons had rarely at
tempted more than to resist this evil in its eccle
siastical phases. But reiterated pleas for rights
purely religious — the rights to which the atten
tion of a religious people are soonest attracted —
lead by natural consequence to the consideration
and assertion of civil rights. Thus this House, edu-
1 Ante, Vol. H. p. 4f4. 'D'Ewes, 454, 455. Strype'i
* D'Ewes, 345. Annals, VI. 55.

Ch. VIII] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. 325
cated by its predecessors, had so advanced in their
perceptions of just liberty as to arraign not only
the abuse of power in the administration of the
Church, but even that abuse of power in the ad
ministration of civil affairs which most directly and
evidently emanated from the Crown itself. They
knew that the queen upon the very threshold of
their congress had solemnly charged them, through
her Lord Chancellor, not to touch her Church. They
knew that she would resent their interference with
her privy affairs. They knew her exquisite jealousy
of her prerogatives. They knew her towering tem
per. They knew her well. But they also kneAA-,
and equally well, certain wrongs — though they did
not fully understand the rights — of the people ;
that, in her name, gentry, traders, peasants, farmers,
and carters were plundered of their goods, and de
frauded of their very bread. These wrongs and
their converse rights, they appreciated. They also
knew — and in their very conscience felt — that
they must therefore either be recreant to their high
trust by dastardly muteness about these things, or
brave the anger of their sovereign by approaching
her prerogatives. They chose the latter.
In their proceedings we find no trace of intem
perate or agitating debate ; no disrespect for the
queen ; none for either branch of her government.
Yet, with a manly courage becoming their English
blood, they ignored the royal inhibition with its
implied menace, braved the royal frown, deliber
ately stepped upon the precincts of her Church,
her " household," and her " chamber " ; passed the
three bills for redress ; and sent them to the Upper

326 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9. [Ch. VITL
House. No other House of Commons had evei
done the like. In all this we perceive a temper
ate, honorable boldness ; a boldness which we can
but partly appreciate, because we can but faintly
understand the mystery of that majesty and of
that arbitrary poAver with which the throne was
then encircled.
Nor was this all. The Commons neither abated
their courage, nor modified their suit. When cour
teously informed, through the Lords, of her Ma
jesty's displeasure, so far were they from apolo
gizing, repenting, or retracting, that they proceeded
to justify their action — face to face with royalty
— by the citation of precedents, to sustain "the
liberties and honor of the House," and to press
upon their imperious sovereign the ratification of
the very bills against which she had expressed
her displeasure. We find here no signs of intimi
dation, none of abasement. We see nothing but a
firm and dignified resolve to counteract, to the
utmost of their ability, those oppressions of the
Crown officials, in Church and State, which long
usage had seemed to sanctify. If there was any
" alarm," any movement toward a compromise, it
was not on the part of the committee of the
Commons, — for they yielded not an inch of their
position, — but on the part of the queen herself,
who had sagacity enough to read the attitude and
to interpret the respectful firmness of those who ad
dressed her; of the queen herself, who — without
passing her word — intimated a purpose to remedy
the wrongs presented in the bills ; of the queen,
who — so far as we can learn from the imperfect

A A

Ch. VHL]

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9.

327

records of the House — neither at this conference
nor at the close of the Parliament expressed any
indignation that the Commons had overleaped her
inhibition touching the affairs of the Church. Not
venturing to do so to a House so resolute, she
treated them — perhaps influenced by the temper
of the Lords in regard to the bill against plurali
ties — with that politic deference and courtesy for
which she was sometimes remarkable, dissolved the
Parliament, and reserved the expression of her in
dignation for another Commons, whom, perchance,
she might more easily intimidate.1

1 D'Ewes, 460, 469.
In describing the character of
this House of Commons, I differ
materially from writers of high re
pute, who unite in representing its
members as distinguished for timid
ity and obsequiousness. On pages
317 and 318 of this volume I have
sufficiently noticed Mr. Hume's re
mark, that " no one durst second
Mr. Damport's motion." But he
uses language far more disparaging
and contemptuous. " In so great
awe did the Commons stand of
every courtier, as well as of the
Crown, that thoy durst use no free
dom of speech which they thought
would give tho loast offence to any
of them. Sir Edward Hobby showed
in the House his extreme grief that,
by Borne great personage not a
member of the House, he had been
sharply rebuked for speeches de
livered in Parliament : he craved
tho favor of the House, and desired
that some of tho members might
inform that great personage of his
true meaning and intention in his

speeches. The Commons, to ob
viate these inconveniences, passed
a vote " — here is another transpo
sition of Mr. Hume, as I shall show
— " that no one should reveal the
secrets of the House." (Hume,
HI. 179.)
Mr. Hallam also, — who I think
must have relied upon Mr. Hume,
— in a more respectful tone ex
presses a like opinion. " Instead
of testifying indignation at this
breach of their privileges, neither
he nor the House thought of any
further redress than by exculpating
him to this great personage, appar
ently one of the ministers, and ad
monishing their members not to
repeat elsewhere anything uttered
in their debates." (Hallam, 152.)
I shall now cite the facts in this
case, which these writers have in
sufficiently scrutinized.
AA'hen Sir Edward Hobby — on
Friday,February 14th — broughtfor-
ward his bill against exactions by offi
cers of the Exchequer, ho sustained
it by a speech. The next day,—

328

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1588-9.

[Ch. Vltt

Saturday, — upon his motion and by
consent of the House, the Speaker
gave formal admonition that speech
es there uttered should not be
bruited, or in any wise reported,
out of doors. (D'Ewes, 432.) On
Monday Sir Edward complained
that this admonition had been dis
regarded ; that his speech upon his
bill then in progress had been re
ported, and untruly, to some great
personage, not a member of the
House, who had called him to ac
count and sharply rebuked him for
the same. He then prayed for the
testimony of the House to the un
truthfulness of the report, and for
their good consideration of him and
of his justification at this present
time given by himself, — an act of
justice accorded of old by the House
in such eases, especially when in
volving " the maintenance and pres
ervation of the ancient liberties of
the same." (Ibid., 433.) In other
words, — as I apprehend it, — he
desired them, by their testimony in
his case, to take their stand for the
right of freedom of speech, which had
been impugned by the rebuke he
had received.
This the House proceeded to do ;
not by any vote, ¦ — so far as appears
by the record, — but by speeches
from individual members, justifying
Sir Edward in tolo. In other words,
they declared that he had a perfect
right to say what he did say. (Ibid.
434.) Whether— quoting Mr. Hal

lam again — whether, by express
words, they did or did not " testify
indignation at the breach of their
privileges" of which Sir Edward
complained, does not appear in the
journal. That it is silent upon this
point proves nothing; for, as Mr.
Hallam himself justly remarks, " we
cannot rely upon negative infer
ences " — from D'Ewes' Journal —
" as to the proceedings in Parlia
ment at this period." (Hallam, 153,
note.) But when we consider the
earnestness with which Sir Edward's
colleagues entered upon his case,
and that the whole burden of their
words was to justify his speech, —
when, too, we observe that it was
the gist of his appeal to them, that
they would by their remonstrance
defend the liberties of the House, —
we can hardly suppose that they did
not distinctly resent the very breach
of their privileges to which their
attention had been called.
However this may have been,
Mr. Hume and Mr. Hallam are cer
tainly in error on one important
point, — in saying that the House
sought to redress the indignity by
their vote admonishing the members
not to repeat elsewhere what trans
pired in their debates. I say, cer
tainly in error ; for this vote was
passed two days before Sir Edward
made his complaint ; and, indeed, be
fore the report ofhis speech had given
occasion for complaint. (Ibid., 433.)

CHAPTER IX.
THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS.
Tint first Sunday at Saint Paul's Ceoss after the Opening of Par
liament. — Dr. Bancroft the Preacher — For his Theme substitutes
Puritanism for Christ and Him crucified. — He complains that the
Puritans are borne with, while they sustain the Interests of the
People. — Laity should yield their Judgment to the Clergy. — The
Puritans "base, rascally, devilish, and Antichristian." — The Di
vine Right ok Bishops, such as in the English Church. — The common
Doctrine on this Subject sixty Years before. — Popular Indignation
at Bancroit's Doctrine. — Remonstrance of Sir Francis Knollys. —
His Appeal to Dr. Rainolds. — The Answer of Dr. Rainolds. — Ban
croft's Theory discarded by the Council and Bishops.
1588-9.
Some six or seven thousand people were assem
bled in the churchyard of St. Paul's cathedral.1 The
Lord Mayor and Aldermen were there in their official
robes. The " Companies " of the city Avere there in
their liveries. Many of the bishops Avere there, some
of the Privy Council, judgeSj Benchers, Knights of
the Bath, lords and ladies, all in courtly array. It
was on the ninth day of February, the first Sunday
after the opening of the Parliament. The multitude
were gathered for the worship of God. Pride of
blood, pride of rank, pride of office, pride of display,
shrunk to nothing for the moment while the stately
service of the Church was read, Avhen each solemn
response rolled from the mighty voice of thousands,
1 Ante, A'ol. I. p. 1 70.
VOL. uu 42

330 THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. [Ch. IX
and. AA*hen, AA'ith a movement like the sinking of a
mountain wave, they bowed at the name of Jesus.
The pomp of the Avorld, the grandeur of nature, the
voice of thunder, — how small beside the posture
and voice of Avorship rendered to God, whether in
the great congregation or in the closet ! The
squalid pauper, the little child, — at prayer in the
name of His beloved Son, — are of more account
with Him than courts, or crowns, or all the Avorks
of his hands.
This day the pulpit at Paul's Cross was occupied
by Dr. Richard Bancroft, lately chaplain to his Grace
of Canterbury,1 but now chaplain to the Lord Chan
cellor Hatton.2 He stood there in the character of
an ambassador of Christ, whose office it is to cry
aloud, " As though God did beseech you by us, we
pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God!"
With such an audience before him, what an opportu
nity ! Avhat responsibility ! Yet, waiving themes of
eternal moment, he spake chiefly of the odiousness
of Puritanism, of the contemptible and dangerous
character of Puritans.
" You see," said he, " into how desperate and dan
gerous a course they are fallen. Your further bearing
with them will not be well excused. They are almost
come from words to blows. Her Majesty is de
praved, her authority is impugned, and great dan-
1 Strype's AVhitgift, 292. mon which must have tested thepa-
2 " Bibliotheca Scriptorum Eccle- tience of the hearers, for it occupies
eiae Anglicanae ; or a Collection of sixty-nine closely printed duodecimo
Tracts," &c. (p. 247.) By Rev. pages. In my frequent references
Dr. George Hicks. London, 1709. to it — as heretofore — I use only
This collection contains the sermon the name of the collector, — Hicks,
which I notice in this chapter ; a ser-

Ch. IX.] THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. 331
gers are threatened. Civil government is called
into question. Princes' prerogatives are curiously
scanned. The interest of the People in kingdoms is
greatly advanced, and all government generally is
pinched at and contemned. The Church is con
demned, the ancient fathers are despised, your preachers
are defaced. It is well to have geese and dogs for
fear of thieves in the night ; but if, without cause,
they will gaggle and make a noise in the daytime, I
think it very fit they be rapt on the shins. Even so
it is Avith these our prophets and their adherents.
Some of them are geese which only gaggle and
cannot hurt. Others are dogs which both can bark
and bite. And yet we see them maintained ! But
you that are magistrates ought rather to restrain
them." -
We venture to elicit another prominent topic in
this noted harangue. " Another sort of prophets
there are, (you may in mine opinion call them false
prophets,) who would have the people to be always
seeking and searching  It hath ever been
noted as a right property of heretics and schismatics
always to be beating this into their followers' heads,
— 'Search, examine, try, seek'; bringing them there
by into a great uncertainty  It falleth not
within the compass of every man's understanding to
determine and judge in matters of religion ; but of
those who are well experienced and exercised in them 
Read the Scriptures with sobriety. If any man, pre
suming upon his knowledge, seek further than is
meet for him, besides that he knoweth nothing as
he ought to know, he shall cast himself into a laby-
1 Hicks, 302, 303.

332 THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. [Cu. IX
rinth, and never find that he seeketh for. God hath
bound himself by his promise unto his Church [?]
of purpose that men by her good direction might
in this point be relieved ; and to whose godly determina
tion, in matters of question, her dutiful children ought to
submit themselves, without any curious or wilful con
tradiction." 1 " He is but of a mean conceit among
the Puritans Avho will stick to say, - Indeed, all the
fathers are of this opinion, but I am of another
judgment.' Were it not more agreeable to justice
that the mouth of such a man should by punishments
be stopped, than by reasons repelled f"2 A higher theory
of abject submission of opinion, or of punishment
for the opposite, was never propounded in the worst
days of the Romish Church.
Such were the words of one set to preach the Gos
pel of the grace of God. Such were the sentiments
of one placed by authority as the representative of
a Protestant Church ; of one with thousands before
him — thoughtless worldlings and famishing disci
ples — awaiting the teachings of the grace of God !
It is painful and mortifying to record them. But it
is necessary, that we may show the points of differ
ence between the prelatic party of the day and their
Puritan opponents. These were for the People ;
those, for the Aristocracy. These were for the Orar
cles of God ; those, for the Fathers. These were
for man's individual responsibility in the interpretar
tion of the Oracles ; those, for his blind submission
to the word of the priesthood. The one party was
for religious manhood ; the other, for perpetual re
ligious childhood. On this one point of studying
1 Hicks, 271 -273, passim. ' Ibid., 261.

Cn. IX.] THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. 333
the Holy Scriptures we see no difference between
the preacher at Paul's Cross and the vassal of Pius
Sixtus. To whom is due the suffrage of our ap
proval, — to the Churchman or to the Puritan ? Is
the Puritan of 1589 to be counted seditious, a stick
ler for trifles, contumacious, because he withstood
those who withstood " the interests of the people "
and the right to understand God's Word? Which
of these parties commends itself to the Protestant
judgment of the nineteenth century ? 1
We do not find that the Puritans were particu
larly moved by these and other like passages in
this noted discourse, although the preacher did not
hesitate to designate them as -• a base and rascally
sort of men,"2 and their plan of church government
" devilish and Antichristian." 3 Since Archbishop
Whitgift's inaugural invective against " wayward
fellows,"4 they had been so much accustomed to
wordy castigations in public, that they had ceased
to wince under them. Yet the only doctrine an
nounced by Dr. Bancroft upon this occasion pro
duced no small stir, not only among Puritans, but
among Churchmen. The substance of the doctrine
Avill sufficiently appear by a few quotations.
'¦ St. Jerome saith, that ever since St. Mark's time
the care of church government hath been commit
ted unto bishops, and that they have authority over
the rest of the ministry.6  Bishops have the
government of the churches in their several dio-

1 Compare the language of Peter * Hicks, 802.
AVcntworth and Robert Beal on * Ibid., 291.
this point, ante, Xo\. II. pp. 29, 414, * Ante, A'ol. IL pp. 353, 354.
415. * Hicks, 25G.

334 THE DIA'INE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. [Cn. IX.
ceses- men by God's approbation allowed and hon
ored.1  At the first, bishops had authority given
them over the rest of the clergy.2  Augustine
ascribeth it to Aerius as an heresy in that he said
there ought to be no difference betAvixt a priest and
a bishop.3  Either before or in Ambrose's days,
it was condemned as an heresy for any to hold that
opinion " — of Aerius.4  " Master Calvin, upon
Jerome's report, seemeth to confess that bishops
have had this authority which Martin " — Mar-prel
ate — " condemneth, ever since the Evangelist St.
Mark's time. Besides, in the most flourishing time
of the Church that ever happened since the Apos
tles' days,  Martin's and all his companions'
opinion hath herein been condemned for an heresy!'*'
It is to be observed, that no attempt was made to
¦ Hicks, 257. " The lay factions say our preachers
2 Ibid., 312. ought to conform themselves to the
" Ibid., 259. example of Christ and his Apos-
* Ibid., 309. ties ; of their Master, who had not
" Ibid., 291. a house to put his head in ; of the
In the course of his sermon, Dr. Apostles, who had neither silver, nor
Bancroft repeatedly handled Mar- gold, nor goods, nor revenues 
tin Mar-prelate's two tracts, — the Even as though one should say
only ones then published. He took unto you, my brethren of the poof-
pains to confute, as well as he could, er sort, ' These gentlemen and
their statements respecting the par- wealthier sort of the laity do greatly
ity of the clergy, and to expose abuse you. The children of God
what he called their " boldness, (you know) are heirs of the world ;
malice, or ignorance." It seems, and those thing which the wicked
therefore, not only that Martin had have, they enjoy by usurpation.
produced a great sensation, but that The earth is the Lord's and the ful
some of his positions were thought ness thereof. You have an equal
sufficiently grave and plausible to portion with the best in the king-
merit discussion before so large and dom of God ; and will you suffer this
courtly an audience. unequal distribution?'" (Hicks,
For the sake of a parenthetical 262, 263.) My query is this: Ii
inquiry of some interest, I quote not this supposititious reasoning of
another passage of this sermon. Dr. Bancroft the origin, and the soil

Ch. EC.] THE DIVTNE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. 335
sustain this doctrine by the Word of God. The an
cient Fathers were the only authority invoked.
By-the watchful audience at St. Paul's the preacher
was fairly understood to assert that bishops — such
as were then in the Church of England — governed
the Church and the inferior clergy jure divino, by a
right inherent to their office and derived from God
alone;1 that without such a hierarchy there could
be no true Church ; that except from such as bish
ops of the Church of England there could be no true
ordaining to the Gospel ministry ; that, of course,
neither obedience nor reverence was due to any
who, without such ordination, exercised the func
tions of that ministry ; and that the denial of these
propositions was heresy.2 These were only the ec
clesiastical relations of the doctrine. It had others
— political and personal.
Sixty years before, at the very dawn of the Eng
lish reformation, ecclesiastically considered, it had been
challenged and resented Avith a spirit becoming the
Anglo-Saxon blood. Beneath the surface of society,
wherever the spiritual reformation had been wrought
by the hidden leaven of the Word, a repressed but
mighty current had set against it. A prelate, at
tempting to remand this flood, was God's chosen
instrument to let it loose. "Have bishops an au
thority ecclesiastical which is derived from God
alone ? Then, to them only belongs the manage
ment of ecclesiastical affairs and persons ; in this

origin, of the tradition — perpetu- the original Puritans, and the creed
atcd alike by declaimers in our upon which they practised ?
Capitol and by penny-a-line writers ' Strype's Whitgift, 292.
— that such was the sober creed of * Marsden, 221, 223, 224

336 THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. [Cu. IX
their divine jurisdiction they are not amenable to
human law, but are accountable only to God ; and
the laity ought blindly to adopt each formula of
doctrine and worship which the priesthood may pre
scribe, and to render mute obedience to all their
religious commandments." Such were legitimate
inferences from the doctrine ; and it was upon this
doctrine, and with an intimation of these inferences,
that John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, took his
stand in the House of Lords, — 21 Henry VIII, —
Avhen resenting an attempt by the Commons '¦ to
regulate the abuses which the laity received from
the clergy."
" My lords ! " said he, " are all vicious, all idle,
all ravenous and cruel priests ? And for such as
are such, are there not laAvs provided already
against them ? Is there any abuse that we do not
seek to rectify ?  Are not clergymen to rectify
the abuses of the clergy?  If we be not ex
ecutive in our laws, let each man suffer for his
delinquency ; or if we have not the power, aid us
and we shall give you thanks  My lords!
beware of yourselves and your country. Beware of
your Holy Mother, the Catholic Church. The people
are subject to novelties, and Lutheranism spreads
itself amongst us  Except ye resist manfully,
by your authorities, this A'iolent heap of mischiefs
offered by the Commons'' — to us, the clergy, —
'•'you shall see all obedience first drawn from the
clergy, and secondly from yourselves ; and if you
search into the true causes of all these mischiefs,
you shall find that they do arise through want of
faith " — in the religion which we teach.

Ch IX.] THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. 337
Thus a right of exemption from Parliamentary
control, and the right to command the obedience
and the faith of the laity, were claimed for the
clergy in virtue of tlieir office; it being presupposed
as an axiom, though not expressly stated by the
bishop, that this their office and these their pre
rogatives were derived from God alone.
" My lord of Rochester ! many of these words
might have been well spared," replied the Duke
of Norfolk; "but I wist it is often seen that the
greatest clerks are not always the wisest men."
" My lord ! I do not remember any fools in my
time that ever proved great clerks."
When the speech of the Bishop was made known
in the House of Commons, there was much excite
ment. They at once suspended their deliberations
upon the bills for the reformation of clerical abuses,
and gave way to a member — a " gentleman of
Gray's Inn" — who spake with great power against
the pretensions of the Bishop of Rochester ; and,
with a boldness unknown and startling at the time,
" claimed for the laity a reasonable liberty to judge
of things in opposition to the priests, " Avho," said
he, " labor, betwixt invitations and threats, for noth
ing more than to make us resign our faith to a
simple obedience, — to renounce daylight to study
only by their candle."
This speech so roused the Protestant temper of
the House, that they immediately made a formal
complaint against the Bishop to the king. It was
presented to his Majesty viva voce by their Speaker
Audley, attended by a deputation of thirty members.
'• Sire ! " said he, " Ave are accused of being with-
VOL. III. 43

338 THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. [Cu. IX
out faith, as if we Avere infidels or heretics. We
consider ourselves grievously injured thereby. We
demand an apology for such offensive language."
The king sent for Rochester. "Why have you
spoken in such a manner ? "
" Sire, being in Parliament, I did but speak my
mind freely in defence of the Church, Avhich is
daily injured and opposed by the common people.
It is not their office to judge of her manners, much
less to reform them."
" Use your words more temperately another time,"
said Henry; and they parted.
The Commons resumed their deliberations; and,
being resolved that a reformation of the clergy
was necessary,1 passed three bills for that purpose,
" in spite of all their outcries." " Thus was struck
the first effectual blow, in the House of Commons,
against the jus divinum of the hierarchy." 2
1 AVhen the subject of such re- still further increased in case of
form was first agitated in the more abominable impurities. Such
Commons, " the clergy were in con- were the laws rendered necessary
sternation. The power of the by the manners of the clergy. But
nation seemed to awaken in this these measures did not satisfy the
Parliament for the sole purpose of Commons." (D'Aubigne, V. 494.)
attacking the power of the priest. The " manners " of the knights
It was important to ward off these and gentlemen were no better.
blows. The Convocation .... there- " Most commonly all of them lived
fore decreed that priests should no so incontinently, having their con-
longer keep shops or taverns, play cubines openly in their houses with
at dice or other forbidden games, five or six of their children, and
pass the night in suspected places, putting from them their wives, that
be present at disreputable shows, all the country therewith were not
go about with sporting dogs, or with a little offended and took evil ex-
hawks, falcons, or other birds of ample of them " ; — i. e. were drawn
prey on their fist, or, finally, hold to evil by their example. (Hard-
suspicious intercourse with women, wieke State Papers, I. 21 ; Thomas
Penalties were denounced against Leigh to Thomas Crumwcll, Aug.,
these various disorders; they were 1536.)
doubled in case of adultery, and 2 Hansard's Parliamentary His-

Ch. IX.] THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. 33fl
The spirit and sentiments of the Commons in
1530 had been perpetuated ; and when the fox
again broke cover at Paul's Cross in 1589, the in
dignant people again gave tongue. " General dis
satisfaction and much uproar" followed.1 The press
proclaimed -- the untruths and slanders " uttered
by Dr. Bancroft.2 Scholars controverted his position,
many of the clergy were offended, and statesmen
uttered the cry of alarm.3 Some "would have
the preacher brought into a prcemunire for saying
that any subject in the realm had superiority over
the persons of the clergy other than from and by
her Majesty's authority."4 Elizabeth's cabinet at
once perceived that such a doctrine, uttered at
such a place and before such an audience, if not
rebuked, would be viewed as a virtual excommuni
cation or abnegation by the English Court of all
reformed churches not episcopal ; and that thus
the sword intended to hew down the Puritans
would cut the queen's most important allies. As
statesmen, therefore, — perhaps otherwise, — they
entered their protest at the Council board.6
But Sir Francis Knollys with much earnestness
urged another point, — the conflict of Bancroft's
doctrine with the queen's supremacy. More than
two years before, in giving his opinion as a Privy
Councillor upon another matter, he had stated that,
in his view, " the magistracy and lordship which
the bishops had over their brethren was derived
tor)', I. 502-607. Blackstone, I. » Strype's AVhitgift, 292. Neal,
20, note. D'Aubigne, V. 495. I. 186. Marsden, 224.
1 Maskell, 162. « Neal, I. 186.
* Ibid., 163. Strype's AVhitgift, ' Marsden, 22^.
349.

3 10 THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. [Cn. LX
from her Majesty's temporal sword ; that thus their
rule was temporal," — of politic human appointment,
— '-and not spiritual, by Airtue of popish canons."1
Early in 1588-9, he delivered into the hands of
the Lord Treasurer a Paper (drawn up by another
hand) in which his A*iews were sustained by the
writings of Cyprian and Jerome of the ancient
Fathers, and by those also of modern times, as
Calvin, Musculus, Beza, Zanchy, and others.2 Again,
in the month of August, he Avrote to him : " I do
not deny that bishops may have lordly authority
and dignity, provided they claim it not from a
higher authority than her Majesty's grant. If the
bishops are not under-governors to her Majesty of
the clergy, but superior governors over their breth
ren by God's ordinance, it will then follow that
her Majesty is not supreme governor over her
clergy." 3 He also addressed a letter to Dr. John Eai
nolds, of Oxford, desiring his opinion of Dr. Bancroft's
doctrine, — a man, whose knowledge of ecclesiastical
history and of the ancient Fathers was not equalled
by that of any one in the kingdom. By the true
Protestant, — the man who, iritliout '• SAvearing he
knoweth more than all the ancient Fathers,"4 bows
only to the Scripture as his rule of faith and of
conduct, religious and moral, — the authorities upon
which Dr. Bancroft rested his doctrine of the di
vine right of bishops will not be admitted as suf-
1 Strype's AVhitgift, Appendix, « Strype's AVhitgift, 311-313;
Book III. No. XXXIV. Annals, VH. 6-9. Hallam, 126,
Strype's Annals, A*L, Appen- note.
dix, Book II. No. LXA*II. Compare * Hicks, 283.
Strype's AA'hitgift, 350, Appendix,
pp. 129, 130.

Ch. IX.] THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. 341
ficient; for upon this point he did not adduce a
syllable of Holy Writ. To those who regard the
opinions of the ancient Fathers as a rule of faith
and practice, we submit extracts from Dr. Rainolds's
letter in reply to Sir Francis Knollys.
Dr. Bancroft had said : " The opinion of Aerius,
that there was no difference by the Word of God be
twixt a priest and a bishop, was pronounced by
Epiphanius to be full of folly." 1 " Though Epipha-
nius," wrote Dr. Rainolds, " does say that Aerius's
assertion is full of folly, he does not disprove his
reasons from the Scripture." Of course, he had not
met the assertion of Aerius.
Dr. Bancroft had said : -- It appeareth in Epi
phanius, that, with a general consent of the whole
Church, the opinions of Aerius were overthrown,
and he himself was condemned for an heretic." 2 On
this point Dr. Rainolds wrote : " As for the general
consent of the Church, which, Dr. Bancroft says, con
demned Aerius's opinion for heresy, what proof does
he bring for it ? It appears, he says, in Epiphanius.
But I say it does not ; and the contrary appears by
St. Jerome and sundry others who lived about the
same time."
Dr. Bancroft had stated that St. Augustine had
styled Aerius a heretic, because of his doctrine of
the equality of the clergy.8 " I grant," wrote Dr.
Rainolds, " that St. Augustine, in his book of heresies,
ascribes this to Aerius for one (that he said there
ought to be no difference between a priest and a
bishop), because this Avas to condemn the Church's
order, and to make a schism therein. But it is quite
Hicks, 258. ¦ Ibid., 259. • Ibid.

342 THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. [Ch. IX
a different thing to say that by the Word of God
there is a difference between them, and to say that
it is by the order and custom of the Church, which
is all that St. Augustine maintains."
Dr. Bancroft had also declared that Calvin himself
" seemed to confess to the opinion of St. Jerome,"
that bishops had had superior authority over the
rest of the clergy ever since the time of St. Mark
the Evangelist." x To this Dr. Rainolds replied : —
"As for the Doctor's saying that St. Jerome, and
Calvin from him, confessed that bishops have had
the same superiority ever since the time of St. Mark,
I think him mistaken, because neither Jerome says
it, nor does Calvin seem to confess it on his report;
for bishops among us may do sundry other things
besides ordaining and laying on of hands which infe
rior ministers may not. Whereas St. Jerome says,
' What does a bishop, except ordination, which a
priest does not ? ' — meaning that in his time bish
ops had only that power above the priests ; which
Chrysostom also witnesses. Nor had they this priv
ilege alone in all places, for in the Council of Car
thage it is said that the priests laid their hands with
the bishops on those who were ordained. And St.
Jerome, having proved by Scripture that in the
Apostles' time bishops and priests were all one, yet
granteth that afterward bishops had that peculiar to
themselves somewhere, but nothing else. So that
St. Jerome does not say, concerning the superiority
in question, that bishops have had it ever since St,
Mark's time.
" Nor does Calvin confess it. He says that - in old
1 Hicks, 291.

Cn. IX.] THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. 343
time ministers chose out one of their company in
every city, to whom they gave the title of bishop.
Yet the bishop was not above them in honor and
dignity, but, as consuls in the Senate propose mat
ters, ask opinions, etc., etc., and so guide the whole
action, and by their authority see that performed
which was agreed on by common consent, the same
charge had the bishop in the assembly of minis
ters ' ; and having showed from St. Jerome that this
was brought in by consent of men, he adds, that - it was
an ancient order of the Church even from St. Mark.'
Whence it is apparent that the order of the Church
he mentions has relation to that above described, in
which he affirms - that the bishop was not so above
the rest in honor as to have rule over them.' It fol
lows, therefore, that Calvin does not so much as
seem to confess of St. Jerome's report, that e\*er
since St. Mark's time bishops have had a ruling su
periority over the clergy.
" Besides, all that have labored in reforming the Church
for five hundred years have taught that all pastors, be
they entitled bishops or priests, have equal authority
and power by God's Word ; the Waldenses, Marsilius,
Patavinus, Wickliffe and his scholars, Huss and the
Hussites, and, last of all, Luther, Calvin, Brentius,
Bullinger, and Musculus. Among ourselves we have
bishops, the queen's professors of divinity in our
Universities, and other learned men consenting here
in, — as Bradford, Lambert, JeAvel, Pilkington, Hum
phreys, Fulke, etc. But what do I speak of par
ticular persons ? It is the common judgment of the
Reformed Churches of Helvetia, Savoy, France,
Scotland, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Low

344 THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. [Ch. IX
Countries, and our own. I hope Dr. Bancroft wil]
not say that all these have approved that for sound
doctrine which was condemned by the general con
sent of the whole Church for heresy in a most flour-
ishino- time. I hope he will acknowledge that he
Avas overseen when he avouched the superiority
Avhich bishops have among us over the clergy to be
God's own ordinance." 2
Sir Francis Knollys is supposed to have been
¦¦'the first Englishman of note who espoused that
wayward sect,' the Puritans. Although Queen
Elizabeth detested Puritanism, and Knollys Episco
pacy, from the commencement of her reign he stood
hio-h in her esteem and confidence. She had be-
stowed upon him, in 1566, the Order of the Garter,
and had appointed him successively to the offices
of Yice-Chamberlain and Treasurer of her House
hold, and we have had frequent occasion to mention
him as one of her Privy Council. She had thus dis
tinguished him, maugre his zealous and outspoken
Puritanism, not because of his family connection
with herself,2 but for a better reason. We give her
1 Neal, 186, 187, note. text now before the reader. AVith-
* I have received a polite note out going into any genealogical m-
from President AA'oolsey of Vale vestigation of the matter, which Dr.
College, in which he urges strong AA'oolsey, in his kind courtesy, has
points — from dates and otherwise done with great accuracy and labor,
— which, so far as I can judge, con- I have probably been misled hy the
vict me of a mistake in my note 1, peculiar language of Lloyd and of
Vol. I. p. 180, where I assert that Sir Francis Knollys himself, which
Sir Francis Knollys was related by I have quoted in the note to which I
blood to Queen Elizabeth. Dr. refer. In accounting for this lan-
AVoolsey's reasons for his criticism guajre Dr. AVoolsey says: •¦ I think,
— which are somewhat extensive — then. Knollys, when he speaks of
I think are sound. I have accord- nature, must mean affinity, as if his
ingly modified my language in the wife's relatives were his own. Lloyd

Ch.IX.] THE DIVINE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. 345
own words. "Now when the wit of the fox is
everywhere on foot, so as hardly a faithful or virtu
ous man may be found, I have promoted Sir Francis
Knollys because he is an honest man." 1
At first Elizabeth was vexed that Sir Francis
should have controverted the doctrine of Dr. Ban
croft,2 for she herself was pleased with it, and wa3
inclined to stand its godmother. " But her more
cautious advisers seem to have prevailed, and Ban
croft's theory of the episcopate was suffered to fall
into neglect."8 Indeed, it was without an advocate
even among the bishops themselves, who "forsook
their claim of superiority over their inferior breth
ren to be of God's own ordinance, and did only
claim superiority over them from her Majesty's su
preme government."4 Although in his controversy
with Cartwright Dr. Whitgift had claimed " in plain
words, that - the superiority of bishops was God's
own institution,' " 6 and although his biographer Avas
"apt to believe that for the preaching of this ser
mon Dr. Bancroft had the instructions of the Arch
bishop,"0 yet even his Grace seems to have aban
doned his former opinion,7 and to have said that " he
may speak tho literal truth of the power. Sir Francis Knollys died
Knollys family after Sir Francis." in 159G. (Nares, III. 457.)
I tako this opportunity to say I ' Nares, III. 458.
cannot flatter myself that, in a work ' Knollys to the Queen ; Strype's
involving such extensive and per- AA'hitgift, 352, and Annals, AIL 9.
plexing research, and into which I s Marsden, 224.
havo been drawn unawares, I may * Strype's AVhitgift, 389. Neal,
not have fallen into mistakes of a I. 1S7.
more serious kind than that dcsig- ' Strype's AVhitgift, 342, 350, 389,
nated by Dr. Woolsoy. Any notice • Ibid., 292.
of such errors, from whatever source, ' " It is no sufficient recompense
I shall gratefully receive, and shall of tho Archbishop to say barely that
be happy to correct, so far as in my he docs not claim, at thus present,"
VOL. in. 44

346 THE DIVINE RIGHT OE BISHOPS. [Cn. IX
rather wished than believed the doctrine to be true." *
An abortive attempt was soon made to obtain "a
general subscription throughout the land, not only
of the ministry, but of all Avhatsoever bear any pub
lic office, that the authority of bishops Avas lawful
by the Word of God. It was brought to the Lord
Treasurer to subscribe to it, avIio should snub it, say
ing that - it was lawful by the positive law, but to
say that it was laAvful by the Word of God, that Avas
another matter.' And so there the matter stayed.
How long it will there rest," added our deponent,
" God knoweth." Prophetic ! 2
The reasoning of Sir Francis Knollys Avas sound,
— that, if such bishops as Avere in his clay derived
their authority from divine appointment, then, in ex
ercising their jurisdiction, they Avere independent of
the civil magistrate, and above the law of the land.
And, as Dr. Bancroft stated in reply to Sir Francis,8
the same reasoning holds good touching the Pres
byterian system of government. The same, also,
touching the Independent or Congregational sys
tem. The only questions which arise are, whether
God in his Word has appointed any particular system
of government for his Church ? and whether to its
officers or members he has deputed any but powers
purely spiritual ?
Being Protestant in the largest sense, we look with
indifference upon the disagreement between Dr. Ban-
— A. D. 1590, — "a superiority over gift, 350, 389; Knollys to Bur-
the inferior clergy from God's own leigh.)
ordinance, unless he will also re- ' Neal, I. 187. Marsden, 224.
tract " — publicly — " his claim" 2 Birch, I. 62; an unknown writ-
advanced in his controversy with er to Mr. Bacon.
Mr. Cartwright. (Strype's Whit- 8 Strype's AVhitgift, 294.

Ch. IX.] THE DIVTNE RIGHT OF BISHOPS. 347
croft and Dr. Rainolds about the opinions of ancient
and modern Fathers, except that the carelessness
and blunders of the prelatic champion are so con
spicuous and significant. And, however uninterest
ing this topic may be to the general reader, yet
when we consider that it was at the time a grand
subject of controversy between the Puritans and the
Precisians, and when we consider the high ground
assumed by ultraists of the latter class at the pres
ent day, it is a matter of some historical interest and
importance to collate evidence so clear, that in the
young years of the reformed English Church " the
divine right " was not only denied by the Puritan,
but by all, or nearly all, the laity, the common
clergy, and the prelates who denounced him, for
other matters, as a schismatic. On this point, " the
common judgment" of his country was with him, and
" the common judgment " of the Reformed Churches
abroad. The range within which ordination was considered
valid in the Church of England in Elizabeth's day —
a topic involved in Bancroft's doctrine — we have
before shown.1 1 Ante, Vol. H. pp. 98 - 113 ; Vol. HI. pp. 59-61.

CHAPTER X.
CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE.
The RnEMisn Translation of the New Testament. — TnoMAS Cartwright
solicited to confute it. — His Return to England. — His Arrest,
Imprisonment, axd Release. — Inteeview between Cartwright axd
whitcift.  c.vf.twkight prjefeerid to the hospital at warwick.—
summoned to answer charges — dismissed without censure. — for
bidden to pursue itis confutation of ttie rliemisn testament. — per
SISTS rx rr at Intervals. — His Connection with the Puritan "Book
of Discipline." — The Subscription to that Book. — Subscribers to
it ; many of them Conformists. — The Nature axd Doincs of the
Peesbyterlas " Assemblies." 1585-1589.
In the year 1582 1 the Romanists, annoyed by
the influence of the Bible in the English tongue,
and finding it impossible longer to withhold it
from the common people, published an English
version of the New Testament. But this was not
a translation from the original Greek, — which they
pretended had been corrupted,2 — but a translation
of a Latin translation called the Vulgate, containing,
as every Biblical scholar knows, many corruptions
and defects.3 The object of issuing this English
1 Home's Introduction, H 246. corrupted by the errors of tran-
2 Strype's Annals, A*I. 289. scribers. About that time Jerome
8 The original of the A*ulgate undertook to correct these errors by
version of the entire Scriptures was translating from the original lan-
probably made in the second cen- guages of the Bible into the Latin.
tury. But before the close of the His version, far superior to all pre-
fourth century it had become much ceding ones in the Latin tongue,

Ch. X.I CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEAV DISCIPLINE.

349

version — called the Rhemish translation, because
issued from the English Seminary at Rheims x —
was to bring the Protestant English version into
disrepute, and to insinuate, not only by its inaccu
rate text, but by its marginal annotations, the cor
ruptions of the Church of Rome.
It was evident that the errors and sophistical
comments of this book ought to be fully and pub
licly exposed. Queen Elizabeth requested Beza —
then residing at Geneva as Calvin's successor2 —

received the approbation of Pope
Gregory I. about the beginning of
the seventh century ; since which
time it has been adopted by the
Romish Church, under the name
of the Vulgate Version. A decree
of the Council of Trent declared it
" authentic," — a vague term, — and
ordered that no other version should
be read in public or be appealed to
as authority. " Upon this ground,"
says Bishop Lowth, " many con
tended that the Vulgate Version
was dictated by the Holy Spirit ;
at least was providentially guard
ed of all error ; was consequently
of divine authority, and more to
be regarded than even the original
Hebrew and Greek texts. And in
effect, the decrees of the Council,
however limited and moderated by
tlio explanation of some of their
more judicious divines, has given to
the Vulgate such a high degree of
authority that .... the translation
has taken place of tho original."
In process of time Jerome's ver
sion became exceedingly corrupted
by the errors of transcribers, so that
It was found necessary to publish a
corrected edition. This was done
by several divines of Louvaine, who

published their version in 1573.
But even this corrected edition —
from which the Rhemish translation
was made — was pronounced incor
rect by Pope Sixtus X., who ordered
a new revision, to which he also
devoted much labor himself, and the
proofs of which he read when pub
lished in tho year 1590. He pro
nounced this edition to bo the
authentic Vulgate ; and ordained
its adoption as such by the whole
Church. But Pope Clement VIII.
declared it to be exceedingly incor
rect, suppressed it, and published
another authentic A*ulgate in the
year 1592. Thus different infallible
Popes have pronounced different
editions of the A'nlgate to be cor
rect ; which editions have differed
largely from each other, in addi
tions, omissions, contradictions, and
other points. Still the Vulgate has
been undeservedly depreciated by
Protestants ; for " it is, in general, a
faithful translation, and sometimes
exhibits the sense of Scripture with
greater accuracy than the more
modern versions." (Home's " In
troduction," II. 196 - 202.)
1 Strype's Annals, A*I. 287.
5 Middleton, II. 304, 365.

350 CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. ICh. X
to prosecute the task. But he declined it, reply
ing that one of her own subjects, Thomas Cart
wright, was far better qualified for it than himself1
Sir Francis Walsingham then wrote to Mr. Cart
wright, an exile from his country since the order
for his arrest in 1573,2 lirging him to write a Con
futation of the Rhemish Testament, sending him
from his own purse one hundred pounds for the
purchase of books and for other expenses of the
work, and assuring him of such further aid as
might be necessary. This was in the year 1583;
and it is intimated that the Secretary's action was
Avith the knowledge and approval of the queen.'
At the same time Mr. Cartwright was solicited to
the same work " by the most learned men of the
University of Cambridge," and by the clergy of
London and Suffolk.4 Before being thus addressed,
Mr. Cartwright was well aware of the importance
of the undertaking proposed, and was doubtless

1 Middleton, H, 331. Pierce, 101. Rhemish Testament." The cop;
Brook, II. 148. Marsden, 171. of this work from the Preface to
2 Ante, Vol. I. pp. 452, 453. which I have made the above ex-
3 Publisher's Preface to Cart- tract is of the first edition ever
Wright's " Confutation.'' Fuller, published. It was printed in the
Book IX. p. 171. year 1618, thirteen years after Mr.
4 Publisher's Preface. Cartwright's death. It is the only
I have a translation of their letter copy which I have been able to
from the original Latin ; and have find, and has been furnished to me
been strongly tempted to insert it by the voluntary courtesy of the
here ; not only because of its ele- Rev. George Allen, of Worcester,
gance of style, but because it shows being one of the volumes of hs
the profound respect in which Mr. choice private library. It is a folio
Cartwright was held by the most of 778 pages, very compactly print-
accomplished scholars of his day. ed ; and is the best specimen of the
But my limits oblige me to omit it. typography of those times which I
I find it in the Publisher's Preface have seen,
to Cartwright's " Confutation of the

Cn. X.] CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. 351
conscious of his own ability to prosecute it ; -- yet
humility and modesty made him stay until he was
in some sort enforced unto the labor."1 After re
ceiving these several appeals, how could the exile
refuse ? " He buckled himself to the employment,
and was very forward in the pursuance thereof" ; 2
for while engaged in it " he allowed himself but
five hours' sleep in the night, rising at two o'clock
in the morning to resume his labors."8
Early in the summer of 1585, — as nearly as we
can ascertain, — three men in clerical garb Avere pass
ing from a small v«ssel, which had just been moored
at one of the quays in London. Two of them
were in friendly attendance upon the third, a man
of about fifty years of age,4 whose countenance
indicated a large intellect and a cheerful heart,
He was pale and emaciated, and his step Avas feeble,
like that of one "in a weak and languishing con
dition."15 But the fire of his eye was not abated,
and the tones of his voice, like the mild smile
upon his face, betokened alike a graA'e and a genial
spirit. He proceeded but slowly, relying upon the
arms of his friends for that support which his own
limbs refused him. Yet his words and looks were
of gladness, and even of merriment, — such as you
might expect from one who for more than ten
years had not set foot on his native island. He
was a man of profound erudition, this Thomas
CartAvright, — an original and independent thinker;
an eloquent, because earnest and instructive, preacher
1 Publisher's Preface * Brook, n. 136. Middleton, H.
* Fuller, Book IX. p. 171. 826.
1 Publisher's Preface. 8 Neal, I. 17G.

352 CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. [Cn. X
of the Gospel of grace. We have before introduced
him as the first public assailant of the hierarchy.1
We have also stated that he - had fled his country
to avoid the execution of an order " to seize his
body, and to bring him before her Majesty's Com
missioners, for his unlaAvful dealings and demeanors
touching religion and the estate of the realm." 2 For
a while he had resided at Heidelberg, Avhere he
had published a Latin treatise in defence of the
new Discipline.3 In the year 1570 he had been
invited by the French Protestants in the islands
of Guernsey and Jersey — the only places in the
kingdom Avhere the High Commissioners did not
exercise jurisdiction i — to assist their ministers in
organizing their church upon the Presbyterian plan.
Thence he had returned to Antwerp to re-assume
the office of preacher to the English merchants
there. During the last fiA*e years he had been
there, and thus employed.5 While residing abroad
upon this and a former occasion,6 he had formed ac
quaintance Avith the most eminent Christian schol
ars on the Continent, — such as Theodore Beza and
Francis Junius, — in whose esteem he stood so
high that they considered themselves honored by
his friendship. "Here is now with us your coun
tryman, Thomas Cartwright," — Beza had written to
an English correspondent, — " than whom I think
the sun doth not see a more learned man."7
1 Ante, Vol. I. p. 410. 6 Brook, I. 410 ; II. 143, 146.
2 Ibid., 452, 453. « Ante, Vol. I. p. 413. Brook, II.
3 Sandys to Gualter; Zurich Let- 143.
ters, No. CCIII. and note 4. ' Zurich Letters, p. 479, note S.
4 This fact is explained, in part Middleton, II. 323. Marsden, 168.
at least, by Collier (VII. 371, 372).

Ch. X.] CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. 353
After he had been conveyed to a quiet, refreshing
English home by his two friends, one of them ex
pressed apprehensions for his personal safety.
" God's will be done ! " Mr. Cartwright replied.
"But my physicians have told me plainly that I
should but die if I continued abroad. I would live,
Mr. Field, to serve God and his Church as long as I
may ; and when assured that I might perchance gain
new strength by breathing my native air, how could
I resist the double motive to come home once more ?
Besides, there is some comfort in the thought of
laying one's bones in the soil whence they have
sprung." 1
"But," said his other friend, Mr. Nicholas Crane,
" I fear the bones may be laid in a dungeon."
" Amen ! if God will it. But it will be English.
You know, brethren, that I have done Avhat I could
to secure protection by bespeaking through my let
ters the good offices of the Lord Treasurer and the
Earl of Leicester ; 2 and also by my memorial to her
1 Neal, I. 176. Brook, II. 146. alty whereof I stand accused to her
Marsden, 168. Majesty. First, I do with most
' Mr. Cartwright had also writr humble thanks .... acknowledge
ten a letter to Sir Christopher the estimable treasure of the doc-
Hatton in the year 1582, of which trine of the Gospel that shineth
I give an abstract. " Your Honor's amongst us. Then, I cannot deny
love to tho doctrine of the Gospel but that I have written some things
.... hath put pen in my hand to which run into evil speeches of
write unto you for the obtaining of divers otherwise well-disposed 
some of that grace of which you I am charged with things which not
have so great store with her Majes- only I never did write, but which
ty, to my especial relief in a cause, never entered so much as into my
the equity whereof I leave to your thought. As, to give the attempt
Honor's judgment  My trouble of the overthrow of all good gov-
is not only the restraint of my ernment in the commonwealth ; to
liberty these six years, but espe- mislike of magistrates, and espe
cially .... the suspicion of disloy- cially of monarchs ; to like equality
VOL. III. 45

354 CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. [Cn. X
Majestj's PriA*y Council, wherein I did plead the
imminent danger of my life, and also my peaceable
behavior while abroad, and prayed that I might

of all estates and of a heedless
ruling of the unruly multitude. In
the Church, to persuade the same
disorder of setting no difference
between the people and their gov
ernors; in their governors to have
no degrees ; to give to the ministers
in their several charges an absolute
power of doing what them liketh
best, without controlment of either
civil or ecclesiastical authority ;
and for the present estate of our
Church, that I carry such an opin
ion of it as in the mislike thereof
I dissuade the ministers from their
charges, and the people from hear
ing the AVord and receiving the
sacraments at their hands, unless it
might be in such sort as I myself
would have it. All which judg
ments as I utterly detest, so for the
maintenance of them there shall not
be found, without open and violent
wresting, so much as one sentence
in any of my books which I have
published : whereas to the contrary
there are divers sentences of that
clearness that none can deny but he
will say that it is not light at noon
day  My humble suit is, that I
be not condemned in silence, but
that there may be a time of trial, as
there hath been of accusation 
Others have audience at her Ma
jesty's hands when their goods are
but touched. My nam?, which is
a much more precious possession, is
rent asunder. Their causes concern
but themselves. Mine reaches unto
many and divers persons. Theirs
is in earthly matters. Mine is in

heavenly  My next desire is,
that, if I must remain in her Hich-
ness's suspicion, .... it may be
according to that which I have
written, and not according to that
which I am reported of. So shall
I be sure to be eased of the slan
derous surmise of my disloyalty to
her Majesty's estate and to the
Commonwealth, likewise of my love
to Puritanism and Church confu
sion ; the contrary of both which
I do most earnestly protest, with
this offer, that if either be proved
against me, I will refuse no extrem
ity to be practised upon me."
(" Life of Hatton," 301-304.)
The reader will notice that Mr.
Cartwright repudiated all " love to
Puritanism." So did Samson — a Pu
ritan as we esteem him — when roil
ing to Grindal. {Ante, Vol. II. pp.
333, 334.) So did those gentlemen
and justices whom we class among
the Puritans, who wrote to the Conn-
cil, " We detest both the name and
heresy of Puritanism." {Ante, VoL
n. p. 376, note.) The solution of this
seeming inconsistency is to be found
in the fact that, in those days, what
we consider a name of honor was
counted one of reproach, as imply
ing an arrogant pretence to purity,
spiritual and moral " perfection."
So Archbishop AVhitgift designated
the Puritans in his inaugural dis
course {Ante, A*ol. II. p. 354, note) :
" These men color their contention
by the names of Religion, Faith,
and Perfection."

Cu Xj CARTWRIGIIT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. 355
come home with assurance of her Majesty's pro
tection. I did so, because I well knew that there
were such as watched' to apprehend me, that they
might cast me into prison."1
" Hadst promise of protection ? " asked Mr. Field.
"None. But, as you also know, I had kind and
honorable mention in the House of Lords at the last
Parliament, when both the Lord Treasurer and the
Earl did commend me in that most noble Senate of
the whole kingdom, and also did intercede, though
in vain, for the favor and consent of the queen." 2
"We do know all these things well," answered
Mr. Field. " But, without assurance of her Majesty's
protection, we think thee safer in Antwerp than in
London." " I would rather die in London than in Antwerp."
" Your arrival," said Mr. Crane, " cannot be con
cealed. The spies of the Commissioners are every
where." " I would not have it concealed. I cast myself
upon my God and my country, to live or to die."
They parted. Mr. Crane's anticipations were real
ized. As soon as Mr. Cartwright's arrival was known,
— probably within forty-eight hours, — he was in
prison.8 No respect for his character or his learning,
no pity for his sickness, weighed in the balance to
his favor. Aylmer, Bishop of London, " thinking
to decline thereby displeasure from himself or the
Commissioners, took him up by jvarrant from the
1 Strype's Annals, V. 494, 405. V. 495. Neal, I. 176. Brook, H.
Neal, I. 176. Brook, II. 147. Mars- 147. Marsden, 168.
den, 168. 3 Neal> j 176_ Brook> jj. i47#
' Strype's Whitgift, 225; Annals, Marsden, 168.

356 CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. [Cu. X
queen, who, in . truth, was incensed against Cart
wright. He then sent the lords of the Privy Coun
cil word that he did it by her order. But the queen
took this in evil part, and Avas very angry that he had
used her name to the lords."1 There was but one
way by Avhich she could shake off the odium of an
act so ungracious and cruel. It Avas to disavow it,
to undo the deed. Thus it happened, as it seems
to us, that Mr. CartAvright Avas soon released.2
Poor Aylmer ! He had obeyed his mistress, and
she frowned. " This the good bishop took to heart,"
He even crawled in the dust before the Lord Treas
urer, " begging his endeavors to appease the queen's
indignation." " My very good lord," were the words
of his plaint, " I understand myself to be in some
displeasure Avith her Majesty about Mr. Cartwright,
because I sent Avord to your lordships by the clerk
of the Council that I committed him by her Ma
jesty's commandment. Alas ! my lord, in what a
dilemma stood I, that if I had not showed that war
rant I should have had all your displeasures, which I
Avas not able to bear. And, using it for my shield,
(being not forbidden by her Majesty,) I am blamed
for not talcing upon me a matter wherein she herself
would not be seen. Well ; I leave it to God and to
1 Strype's Aylmer, 117. For her queen's anger towards Aylmer was
policy, compare ante, Vol. I. pp. 228, doubtless the reason of this act of
223, and note 6. grace. That Mr. Cartwright was
2 I dissent from Mr. Marsden's " several months in prison," I doubt;
statement, that " it was" from the for it would seem, from the corre-
Primate that Mr. Cartwright re- spondence to which I shall imme-
ceived his release, though not un- diately refer, that he had received
til he had been several months his Grace's grace before tho four
in prison." AVhitgift, as Primate, teenth day of July.
probably released him ; but the

Cn. X] CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. 357
your wisdom to consider in what a dangerous place
of service I am. But God, whom I serve, and in
whose hands the hearts of princes are, as the rivers
of Avaters, can and will turn all to the best, and stir
up such honorable friends as you are to appease her
Highness's indignation. In the mean time, my good
lord, Itvill vow myself to you, as my chief patron under
God and her Majesty, and surely you shall find me
neither undutiful nor unthankful." 1
Such was the cringing servility of the man who
thirty years before had so much of the Puritan dis
like to bishops as to write against them " in a strain
of insolent vulgarity," to which Mr. Cartwright could
never have stooped.2 Well might Lord Burleigh
exclaim, " I see such worldliness in many that were
otherwise affected before they came to cathedral
churches, that I fear the places alter the men." 3
After Mr. Cartwright's liberation, a personal inter
view took place between him and the Archbishop,
which Avas marked by mutual courtesy.4 The Puri
tan seems to have acknoAvledged, that in the heat of
their old controversy his " manner " had been such
as he would not in all respects justify. Yet he
frankly declared that his opinions upon the matters
then discussed were unchanged.5 It is said, also,
that he expressed his purpose to do nothing touch
ing " the practice and devotions " of the Church
which might create disturbance. The prelate was
mollified for the time towards his old antagonist,
1 Strype's Aylmer, 117. Mars- * Strype's AVhitgift, 225. Brook,
den, 169. 11.147.
* Ante, Vol. II. p. 232. Marsden, " Fuller, Book IX. p. 177 ; Whit-
169. gift to Leicester.
1 Ante, Vol. II. pp 436, 437.

358 CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. [Cn. X
treated him kindly, and " promised him all friend
ship." 1 " For his faA*orable and courteous usage of
Mr. Cartwright," the Earl of Leicester, on the four
teenth day of July, rendered formal thanks to his
Grace, and at the same time intimated a hope that
Mr. Cartwright might be again allowed to preach.1
The Archbishop replied : " I cannot grant him li
cense to preach without longer trial  I am
ready to be at peace with him so long as he liveth
peaceably. Yet doth my conscience and duty forbid
me to give unto him any further public approbation
until I be better persuaded of his conformity. This
17th of July, 1585." 3
The Earl of Leicester had founded an asylum or
hospital at Warwick for " twelve poor, old, impotent
men," 4 and, finding that he could not obtain the
Archbishop's license for Mr. Cartwright, preferred him
to its mastership.5 The emolument of the office v is
the use of a house, and one hundred pounds per an
num ; its duties, to pray twice a day with those who
had refuge there, to catechize them twice a week,
and to preach in the morning of the Lord's day in
the church of the lower parish. In addition to these
duties of the mastership and to his studies, he
preached in the upper parish in the afternoon of
Sunday whenever permitted, and in the same par
ish church preached a lecture on Saturdays.6 Be
ing in the private service of a nobleman, he was
legally exempt from the jurisdiction of the prelates
1 Strype's AVhitgift, 225. ' Sidney State Papers, L 46.
* Fuller, Book IX. p. 176. 'Middleton, H 331. Neal L
* Ibid., 177. 177.
* Strype's Annals, VH. 42, 43.
Strype's Whitgift, 336.

fin X] CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. 359
and therefore he could preach in Warwick without
a license.1 But the bishops, as we have seen, were
not scrupulous to exceed the legal bounds of their
authority; and it was not long before Freke, the
Bishop of Worcester, disturbed him by a summons
to appear before the consistory court. Here he
was charged with -• disturbing the peace and quiet
ness of the Church by innovations, and with obtrud
ing fancies and devices of his own and others, par
ticularly with broaching the dregs of Geneva." He
was dismissed, however, without ecclesiastical cen
sure.2 With indomitable perseverance, and still contend
ing with painful disease, he resumed the duties of
the hospital and the pulpit, but devoted his chief
labor to his " Confutation of the Rhemish Testa
ment." But some time in the year 1586, he " re
ceived commandment from the Archbishop to deal
no further in it." 8 His Grace had obtained a copy
of Mr. Cartwright's "Preface," in which he saw,
or thought he saw, an attempt "now and then
to magnify the New Discipline."4 Mr. Cartwright
desisted. But some years afterwards, "upon the
special solicitations and encouragements of honor-

1 Brook, II. 147. could in good conscience leave a
* Ibid., 149. Marsden, 173. blank where they had made a blot.
" Publisher's Preface. .... Yet he never came to any of
* Strype's AVhitgift, 335. these points but where they called
Mr. Cartwright afterwards made him ; and answered these with as
some alterations of this first copy, much brevity and as great general
Yet ho declared that, " as to the ity as he could, without any appli-
matter of discipline .... ho es- cation unto our Church or any gov-
tcoined it a duty to defend the truth crnments of the same." (Strype's
thereof where the Jesuits expressly AVhitgift, 335.)
oppugned it ; and saw not how he

360 CARTAVRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLTNE. [Ch. X
able personages," he resumed the work. "But yet
receiving new discouragements from his great ad
versaries," and hindered by his ministerial duties
and personal sufferings, he proceeded only to the
fifteenth chapter of the book of the Bevelation.
Nor was this perfected by his own careful reA-ie*v,
as he had intended. He ceased from his task, how-
exer, only Avhen interrupted by death.1
A more arbitrary act cannot be conceived than
that of the Archbishop in this case ; nor, probably,
can anv instance be cited, under Elizabeth's reign,
y Or
in which the despotic poAver of the hierarchy Avas
bo signally displayed. The queen — we say it with
some reason — had great respect for the talents
and learning of Mr. CartAvright ; and Avas willing
that he should proceed in his work, until persuaded
by the Archbishop that his Puritanical sentiments
— "very dangerous' — would become associated,
should his work appear, Avith the Holy Scriptures
themselves, and thus obtain a sanctity in the minds
of the people. Sustained by her approval, his
prohibitory ban was sufficient to neutralize the
combined influence of Walsingham, Leicester, and
Burleigh, each of Avhom2 sanctioned Cartwright's
1 Publisher's Preface. much more complete answer from
Dr. AVilliam Fulke, — Margarett Mr. Cartwright." (Pierce, 103.)
Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, Mr. Cartwright's manuscript rc-
and one of the many learned men ceived no attention for years, ex-
who prompted Mr. Cartwright to cept from mice, who made some
his task, — finding him stopped by inroads upon it. The defects thns
the Archbishop's inhibition, assumed occasioned, and also the unfinished
the work himself. His ': Confuta- part of the book of the Revelation,
tion of the Rhemish Testament" were supplied by the publisher from
was published in the year 1 589. In the work of Dr. Fulke. (Publish-
his Preface "he gave his readers er's Preface. Brook, I. 38 7.)
notice that they were to expect a 2 Marsden, 172.

Ch. X.] CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. 361
undertaking. " Walsingham was Secretary of State,
but not of religion ; wherein the Archbishop over
powered him. Many commended his care not to
intrust the defence of the doctrine of England to
a pen so disaffected to the discipline thereof. Oth
ers blamed his jealousy to deprive the Church of
so learned pains of him whose judgment would so
solidly, and affections so zealously, confute the pub
lic adversary. Distrustful passages, (shooting at
Rome but glancing at Canterbury,) if any such Avere
found in his book, might be expunged,- whilst it
was a pity so good fruit should be blasted in the
bud for some bad leaves about it."1
Mr. Cartwright was warmly welcomed by his
brethren of the Presbyterian school, and rendered
them important aid in those different revisions and
alterations of their Book of Discipline Avhich Ave
have mentioned.2 By these repeated and careful
emendations, they acknoAvledged the importance of
their work, and — what the queen and her prelates
would never do — their own fallibility. The motto
of the one party Avas, "Let us go unto perfec
tion " ; 8 that of the other, -• Semper eadem."
In the subscription to the Book of Discipline

1 Fuller, Book IX. p. 171. they !) and there are not so few as
* Ante, Xo\. III. p. 152. six hundred alterations. The wiso
In his sermon at Paul's Cross, Dr. man, speaking of such resolution,
Bancroft was disposed to facetious- saith that Stultus ut Luna mutatur."
ness when alluding to these re- (Hicks, 287.) And he had the
poated revisions of the Prcsbyte- front to say this after having no-
rian Book of Common Prayer which ticcd the repeated alterations which
accompanied their Book of Disci- had been made in the Book of Com
pline. " Tho whole form and order mon Prayer as established by law.
ofthe Book," said he, "was in a (Ibid., 2S0, 281.)
manner changed (so constant aro * Hebrews vi. 1.
vol. m. 4ti

362 CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEAV DISCIPLINE. [Cn. X.
Avhich Avas commenced in 1586 1 Mr. Cartwright
joined ; and in the Warwick Classis (or Presbytery)
Avas the first subscriber.2 The subscription AA'as Avide-
ly extended ; Classical Assemblies were multiplied ;
and Provincial Synods 3 were also formed.4 We have
already given two briefs of this subscription.5 The
full form we here quote, that the explicitness of
its language may be apparent. " We acknowledge
the said Book entitled - The Holy Discipline of the
Church' to be agreeable to God's most holy Word,
so far as toe are able to judge or discern of it, — ex
cept some feAV points ; 6 and Ave affirm it to be the
same Avhich we desire to be established in this
Church by daily prayer to God : Which we pro
fess (as God shall offer opportunity and give us
to discern it so expedient) by humble suit to her
Majesty's most honorable Privy Council and Parlia
ment, and by all other lawful means, to further
and adA'ance so far as the law and peace of the
present state of our Church will suffer it ; and not
to enforce the contrary. We promise to guide
ourselves according to it, and follow the directions
set down in the chapter - Of the Office of the
Ministers of the Word.' 7 We promise to frequent
our appointed assemblies ; that is, every six weeks
Classical Conferences, every half-year Provincial
1 Ante, Vol. III. p. 153. were referred, for further consid-
2 Strype's AVhitgift, 2G3. Brook, oration and final resolution, to some
II. 150. future assembly. (Strype's Whit
a Ante, Vol. n. p. 275. gift, 2G3.)
1 Strype's AVhitgift, 290. Neal, ' This chapter contained only
I. 185. directions for the manner in which
6 Ante, Vol. II. p. 276 ; Vol. III. tho minister should conduct public
p. 154. worship. (Neal, H. 441.)
* These undetermined points

Cn. X] CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. 363
Assemblies, and General Assemblies1 every year."2
This subscription they considered only as "a decla
ration of their judgment; leaving the determina
tion to her Majesty and the Parliament." 3 Yet " the
promise was never in such manner performed as
the Book prescribed,"4 because her Majesty's au
thority was lacking for any change in conducting
public worship.
This Paper expressed the only bond of associa
tion or brotherhood — the only obligation — Avhich
the Presbyterian Puritans assumed. It received the
signatures of more than five hundred beneficed
clergymen, — to say nothing of Cari/wright, Travers,
and others who had no benefices.6 It is, however,
a rare and gyratory feat, — the leap from this
fact to the inference that these five hundred en
joyed their benefices while known to disregard
the liturgy in their ministrations; or, in other
words, that " the Puritans were treated with great
favor, and allowed to enjoy many and considerable
preferments in the Church."6 True, some of the
bishops loathed the persecuting of their non-con
forming clergy ; but what they loathed they did —
to save themselves from punishment.7 There Avere
indeed "more than twice five hundred clergymen"
— Puritans — " who made a shift to keep their
places in the Church " ; 8 but this was not at all
through "favor or allowance." There had been,
1 Ante, Vol. H p. 275. " Neal, I. 183, note. Nares, HI.
• Strype's AVhitgift, 263, 264. 350. Hume, III., Note M.
Neal, I. 182. ' Bishop Maddox, as quoted by
' Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, Dr. Nares, III. 344.
Book IV. No. IV. p. 145. T Martin's '¦ Epitome," p. 38.
« Ibid., 146. ' Neal, I. 183, note.

364 CARTAVRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. [Ch. X
and still were, not a few — like Grindal, Park
hurst, Pilkington, Deering — Avho Avere non-conform
ists in principle only, not in practice; "Puritan
Conformists," 1 or '• Conformable Puritans, who prac
tised the ritual out of policy, but dissented from
it in their judgments."2 The prelates complained
of such ; 3 but they could not prosecute them ex
cept upon inquisition. There w*ere others who were
practically non-conformists, but who " had so framed
their parishioners that, although they clean alter the
order of service and administration of the sacraments,
they Avill never complain of them." 4 Thus it is evi
dent, that many Puritan clergy retained their places,
not through ¦• favor or allowance," but some because
they Avere conformists, and others because their cere
monial delinquencies were screened by their people.
We have yet to learn that, under the administration
of Archbishop Whitgift, there was a single instance
of deviation from the ritual of the Church, which
came to the knowledge of the Commissioners, which
Avas not punished ; a single deviator who was not,
if discovered, imprisoned, suspended, or deprived.
It has been alleged, that the clergy thus asso
ciated agreed to invite none of the laity to "the
present embracing and practising of the Discipline,
except the men of better understanding, the riper
or forwarder sort," others being kept aloof until
better instructed ; 5 that then such members of the
parochial churches as seemed to be Christ's dis-
1 Hanbury, I. 69. Bishop Cooper's justification of the
" Fuller, Book XI. p. 144. oath ex officio mero. Hicks, 300.
" Ibid. * Strype's Whitgift, 291, 332.
* Ante, Vol. XI. pp. 472, 473 ; '

Ch. X.] CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEAV DISCIPLINE. 365
ciples in sincerity1 should be received to the Pres
byterian brotherhood; that such voluntary churches
within and distinct from the compulsory or statute
churches were thus formed, practising their discipline
"as far as should be capable with the peace of the
Church";2 and that, as a condition of entering this
Christian fraternity, each one " Avas required to make
a declaration of faith,  showing that he did
fully consent and agree with the doctrine of the
Church, and submitting to the discipline of the same
by subscribing thereto."8 But all these allegations
were positively denied by Mr. Cartwright and others,
who declared in the Star-Chamber, and upon their
oaths, that " no such order of the submission of
communicants to that Discipline had ever been put
in practice by them ; or allowed, othenvise than
in judgment as an order which they desired the magis
trate would establish."4 We have yet to find evi
dence that any Presbyterian church organization took
place during the reign of Elizabeth.
1 Compare Strype's AVhitgift, thority for these statements. Yet
829. I see no reason to doubt that such
It should be remembered that the conditions of church-membership
parish church was constituted by may have been projected.
law ; that tho communicants were * Strype's AVhitgift, Appendix,
such upon compulsion ; that many of pp. 147, 150, 166.
them did not pretend to any spirit- Apparently this conflicts with my
ual affinity to the Great Head of the statements, Vol. II. p. 278. Butifthe
Church ; and that not a few were reader will bear in mind that the
of immoral lives. These facts, to- language there employed describes
gcther with the lordship of bishops, only the theory — or perhaps the
constituted two great objections of original, crude purpose — of the
both branches of the Puritan school Presbyterians, no real discrepancy
to the Establishment. will be found. I confess, however,
8 Strype's AVhitgift, 291, 832. that I should have thrown those
Waddington's " Hidden Church." statements into a different form,
1 Nares, III. 84 7. had I then discovered what I here
Dr. Nares does not give his au- state in the text.

366 CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. [Ch. X
We turn to consider the nature and doings of
these Presbyterian assemblies, — the Consistories, the
Classes, and the Synods.
According to their Book of Discipline, to the
Consistory belonged the duty of regulating all
things pertaining to the public worship of their
congregation, the sacraments, the marriages and
the burials, and all matters of discipline. But in
the election and " deposing " — dismissing ? — of
ministers, in excommunicating or suspending of pri
vate members, nothing might be concluded with
out the knowledge and consent of the whole church.
Upon the Conferences it devolved to examine into
the doctrine, discipline, and religious necessities of
the churches represented in their Assembly, and
to give counsel on all questions submitted to them
from their Consistories ; upon the Provincial Synods,
to consider difficult cases sent up to them from
the Conferences ; and upon the National Synod,
" to handle things pertaining to the churches of
the whole kingdom." 1
Such was the theoretic discipline projected by
the Presbyterian Puritans. But in their various
assemblies during Elizabeth's reign, they never at
tempted to practise it. They met merely for con
sultation, conference, and mutual improvement, "as
professed ministers of the Word," and to "devise
the best ways and means to keep the people who
were under their charges from being corrupted by
Jesuits, Seminarists, and schismatics." 2 Their Con-
1 Neal, II. 438, 443, 444, 445. Book IV. No. IV. p. 144. NeaL
<inte, Vol. II. pp. 275, 27C. II. 447.
2 Strype's AVhitgift, Appendix,

Ch. X.] CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEAV DISCIPLINE. 367
ferences were meetings of ministers only, and for
the above purposes, except that in some places
schoolmasters — two or three — were admitted, men
who were in training for the ministry.1 They also
"communicated for their comfort and help one
with another," resolving matters of conscience in
their relations to the Church established.; for ex
ample, how far they might use the Book of
Common Prayer ? by what means the queen might
be brought to consent to their Book of Discipline ?
what petitions should be sent to Parliament, and
by whom ? and what arguments should be drawn
up for the use of their friends in the House of
Commons?2 In the year 1587, the Conference
(Classis) of Cambridge proposed certain questions,
which they sent up to the Provincial Synod which
met at Warwick in June, 1588.8 We state the de
cision of the Synod on only the most important
of these, viz. : that no minister Avas obliged to rest
in the bishops' " deprivation " from the ministry
(except, upon consultation with some neighboring
church, it should be thought best), but that he
should continue therein until otherwise compelled
by the civil courts : that it was not laAvful to ap
pear in any bishop's court without protestation
against its unlawfulness : that no man should take
upon himself an itinerating ministry : and that no
one should take upon himself any particular charge
in the ministry unless called thereto by a congre
gation, a Classis, or some greater assembly ; in
1 Strype's AVhitgift, Appendix, dix, Book IV. No. IX. pp. 163, 161 ;
Book IV. No. IV. p. 144. Neal, No. X. p. 165.
II- 447. « Strype's Whitgift, 291. Neal
8 Strypo's AVhitgift, 290, Appcn- I. 1S5.

368 CARTWRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. [Ch. X
which case, he should be commended by them to the
bishop for ordination, if it might be obtained with
out subscribing to the Book of Common Prayer.1
Such were the topics which at this time Avere dis
cussed in the meetings of the English Presbyterians.
They assumed no church discipline, no ecclesiastical
authority in any shape, no poAvers of ordination,2 of
ecclesiastical censure, or of excommunication.3 They
assembled only as brethren in the Christian ministry,
and for the same general purposes as had been be
fore sought in " the prophesyings " Avhich had been
••'allowed by many bishops."4 On this point Ave have
their own most solemn protestation : - As touching
the thing surmised of our meetings, that we exercise
in them all ecclesiastical jurisdiction, in making of
ministers, in censuring and excommunicating, in
ordering constitutions and orders upon such cen-
1 Strype's AVhitgift, 291. Neal, of pp. 291 and 330 of Strype'*
L 185.' AVhitgift.
As nearly as I can ascertain, In their peculiar view of the
while the Puritans held ordination proper conditions of holding any
by abishoptobe valid {Ante, A*ol.II. pastoral charge, we perceive why
p. 242, note), they did not consider they sometimes '• renounced their
one to be properly inducted into former calling " — not ordination —
the pastoral office without both the " by bishops" ; and, to qualify them-
approbation ofthe associated clergy selves as pastors, look ''a new ap-
and a call from the church to whom probation from their Classes," and
he should minister. But as they a " call " from their particular con-
did not assume to confer ordina- gregations, " by which calling they
tion {Ante, IL 278; Neal, I. 140 did stand in their ministry, and
Ks), these two conditions having not by the calling of the bishop.
been met and being considered in (Strype's AA'hitgift, 330.)
themselves Scripturally sufficient, " Strype's AA'hitgift, Appendix,
they referred the candidate to a Book IA*. No. IX. p. 163, Article
bishop for orders, if not already or- 18 ; No. X. p. 165.
dained ; or if he had been, for such * Ibid., p. 165.
pipers as would enable him to hold * Ibid., p. 144. Neal, H 447.
a benefice. These points, I think, Ante, A*ol. II. pp. 49, 65, and no>c
will appear by a careful comparison 4 ; also pp. C 5, 66.

On. X] CARTAVRIGHT AND THE NEW DISCIPLINE. 369
sures to bind any, we protest, before God and the holy
angels, that we never exercised any part of such juris
diction, nor had any purpose agreed among us to
exercise the same, before we should by public law be au
thorized thereunto!' a " Nor did they use or cause to
be put in use any other form of Common Prayer
by the prescription of any other book than that es
tablished."2 1 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, s Strype's Whitgift, Appendix,
148, 150, 151 bis. Strype's Annals, pp. 146, 165.
VII. 125,126. Neal, II. 447. Fuller,
Book IX. p. 208. Brook, IL 260.

vol. iu. 47

CHAPTER XI.
"FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY."1
Ms.. Wight imprisoned. — Hts Papers reveal the Doings of TnE Pom-
TAN ASSEMBLIES. — OtHEK CLERGYMEN IMPRISONED. — REVELATIONS BY
SOME OF THEM UrON OATH.  ARTICLES OBJECTED AGAINST Mr. CARTWRIGHT.
— He solicits the cood Offices of Lord Burleigh. — Before the Com
missioners REFUSES THE OaTII — UPON HIS SECOND APPEARANCE CONSENTS,
on certain conditions, to make oath uton certain charges. — lord
Burleigh remonstrates. — Cartwright and others now held in Poison
for refusing the Oatii. — Their Cases referred to the Star-Chamber.
— Arraigned there, but the Proceedings suspended. — Cartwright
brought before the Commissioners secretly. — Upbraided and in
sulted. — Charges made by the' Attorney-General. — Mr. Cartwright
again refuses the oath. — dispute between blsiior aylmer and dll.
Bancroft.. — Mr. Cartwright remanded to Prison. — Written Articles
preferred against him and others in the star-cliamber. — their
written axswehs upon oath. — prosecution fails for want of plloof.
— The Commissioners still hold them in Prison. — Mr. Cartwright
solicits the Intercession of Lady Russel with Lord Burleigh. — The
Prisoners address the Queen. — Some Favo:i showed, except to Mil
Cartwright. — The Archbishop's Conditions of Release rejected.—
Public Sympathy for the Prisoners. — Intercessions of King James,
of Sir Francis Knollys, and of Doctors at Cambridge, unavailing.
1590-1592.
To avoid exciting suspicion, the Puritans arranged
that their larger assemblies, or Synods, should be
held in connection with other public gatherings ; as at
Sturbridge, about two miles from Cambridge, at the
time of the great fair held there during two weeks
every year ; at Cambridge, at the time of the Com
mencement ; at Oxford, at the time of the Act ; 2 and
1 Fuller, Book IX. p. 170. ' Ante, Vol. II. p. 269, note 3.

Cn. XI] "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 371
at London, at the time of the Parliament.1 Several
of these meetings had been held accordingly.2 Their
Classical Conferences, comprising but few members,
and less likely to attract notice, were convened with
less precaution, at inns or in private houses ; as at
" The Bull " in Northampton ; in the chamber of
Mr. Snape, the curate of St. Peter's parish in the
same town ; and in the house of Mr. Sharpe, minister
of Fawseley.3 Yet some suspicion of these gather
ings and of their business was excited in the minds
of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and especially
in the mind of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who
now "was very busy more effectually to deal with
that sort of Puritans who had labored so much to
bring in the new Discipline." i The better to ferret
out their " concerns and doings," he kept in play a
corps of spies.5
There was a zealous but unpretending clergyman,
— Daniel Wight, — who seems to have preached in
London, or in its immediate vicinity. He was a
quiet, peaceable man, earnest in the work of his
ministry, "one of the chief Puritan ministers,"6 and
was in the habit of expressing his opinions frankly
whenever occasion required. He had subscribed the
Presbyterian Book of Discipline, and had taken an
active part in the Associations. By his ingenuous
ness, and by his frequent attendance upon the Clas
sical Conferences and Synods, apparently, he had
attracted the special attention of the Archbishop's
1 Strype's Whitgift, 828, 332. 4 Strype's Whitgift, 327.
* Ibid., 332. " Ibid., 291.
* Ibid., 328, 330. Fuller, Book ° Ibid.
IX. p. 207.

372 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." [Cu. XI
spies Early in the year 1590 his house was forci<
bly entered, his study sacked, his papers seized, and
he himself marched off to prison.1 These papers
furnished his Grace with much of the information
about " the concerns and doings " of the Puritans
which he had long been craving ; for they contained
various memoranda of what had been debated and
resolved upon in their assemblies, and which we have
in part recited.
About the middle of May Mr. Cartwright was sum
moned by Mr. Serjeant Puckering to appear before
the High Court of Commission. He was sent for
by a pursuivant, but contrived to evade arrest, not
because he would elude the Court, but partly be
cause he was too ill to travel, and partly because,
with the honorable pride of a true man conscious
of integrity, he chose to be his own pursuivant.2 In
a few days, his infirmity being abated, he came to
London, where he immediately wrote to Mr. Puck
ering, "in behalf of the poor church at Warwick,
likely enough to be deprived of all manner of tolera
ble ministry,  that some such might be pro
vided as might  proceed in the edification of
the church  This," he added in conclusion,
" I was bold to write in fear of being severed from
doing any more service there • and yet not known
to myself of any breach of law whereby I may be
touched. Only I fear to be committed for refusing
the oath.fiz officio mero. May 20, 1590." 3 Having
thus pleaded for his " poor church," and anticipating
1 Strype's Whitgift, 291. Brook, I. 447, 448.
a Strype's Annals, VII. 27; Cartwright to Puckering.
» Ibid. Brook, II. 150, 151.

Ch. XI.] "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 373
clearly the severities which he must endure, he ren
dered himself to the terrible tribunal before which
he had been summoned,1 and was immediately sent
to prison.2
Besides Mr. Wight and Mr. Cartwright, seven
other clergymen were arrested about the same time,
and committed to different prisons in and about
London, some of whom had before suffered in like
manner for their non-conformity ; men of honest and
peaceable lives, laborious and faithful preachers, and
esteemed by their parishioners.3 Soon after, others
of the associated brethren were arrested and com
mitted, some of whom considered themselves under
obligation to take the oath in all cases when re
quired to do so by their ecclesiastical judges, and to
confess all which they knew touching the case in
hand.* Through these men the Ecclesiastical Com
missioners discovered many things respecting the
associations which were not revealed by the papers
of Mr. Wight ; particularly the bond of association
subscribed by the brethren,5 when and where these
meetings had been held, and the names of those
assembled.0 It was the habit of his Grace of Canterbury to
make his early appearance at the Privy Council
board ; but if upon inquiry he found that no ques
tion was to occur .touching affairs of the Church,
he would immediately take his leave.7 But the
1 Strype's Whitgift, 338 ; Appcn- 6 Ibid , I. 405.
dix, Book IV. No. I. ° Ibid., 259. Strype's Whitgift,
1 Brook, II. 181. 871 ; Appendix, Book IV. No. IX.
' Strypo's Whitgift, 292, 335. Fuller, Book IX. p. 207.
Brook, I. 407-410, 414-448. ' Fuller, Book IX. p. 197.
' Brook, I. 405 ; II. 259.

374 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 'Cn. XL
cases which we are pursuing not coming originally
before the Lords of Council, he had no occasion to
discuss them there. Yet he had framed certain arti
cles against the clergy under arrest, which he had
prepared from the Papers of Mr. Wight, and from
the oral confessions of others. A copy of these he
saw fit to send on the sixteenth day of July, not to
the Council indeed, but to the principal man there,
— the Lord Treasurer.1 Having closed his long and
complicated document, his Grace propounded these
questions : " First, whether it be not expedient for
the Commonwealth and her Majesty's service to
have the dealings of these men more particularly
yet discovered and suppressed if it may be ? Sec
ondly, seeing this cannot be effected by any means
but by the confession of such as were partakers of
their conferences, if they and others shall persist in
refusal, what course were best to be taken for the
terror of others ? whether by prcemunire if they have
incurred it ? by law ? or by some exemplary corporal
punishment, to be inflicted by the Lords of the Star-
Chamber ? or otherwise ? " 2 This language shows
plainly enough that the Archbishop was ready to
adopt a course of proceeding and modes of punish
ment " otherwise " than " by law," and that he did not
blush to avow it. We think the rack is indicated.
Thirty-one articles were drawn.up against Mr. Cart
wright by the Archbishop, or under his direction, and
were dated September 1st, 1590.3 The first twenty-
1 Strype's Whitgift, 327. to these articles for that of Mr.
* Ibid., 335. Cartwright's appearance before the
a H>id., 336. Fuller (Book IX Commissioners.
p. 197) mistakes the date affixed

Ch. XI] "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 375
four charged him with renouncing his episcopal or
ders by being re-ordained beyond the sea, with inter
rupting the peace and breaking the orders of the
Church since he came home, and with knowing the
authors or printers of Martin Mar-prelate.1 The rest
concerned his penning and recommending the Puri
tan Book of Discipline, and his conduct in the Pu
ritan Synods.2
Having been notified, after about four months' im
prisonment, that he was about to be convented be
fore the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, Mr. Cartwright
wrote to Lord Burleigh as follows : "  So it
is, therefore, if it please your good lordship, that
with much grief of mind I have understood of her
Majesty's heavy displeasure against me, in whose
gracious favor, next under God, the comfort of my
life and of those that depend upon me doth consist.
Whereof it may be that at this time I stand under
the arrest of her High Commission  for appear
ance upon Thursday next ; when, what matter may
be objected, I know not.8 But this I well know, that
from the writing of my last book (which was thir
teen years ago) I never wrote, or procured anything
to be printed, which might be in any sort offensive
to her Majesty or the State ; much less had any
hand, or so much as a finger, in the book under
Martin's name.
"  Wherefore, my most humble suit unto
your lordship is, that it would please you, either by
1 Neal, I. 194. Brook, n. 151 - comparing the Articles with the
153. following parts of this letter, that
' Brook, 153. Fuller, Book IX. Mr. Cartwright must have received
198-202. Collier, VII. 121-128. general information of their promi-
It is evident, however, upon ucnt points.

376 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." [Ch. Xi
counsel or favor, or both,  to relieve me against
the troubles that are coming upon me, especially
against her Majesty's heavy displeasure. This Sun
day morning the 4. of October, 90." 1
On the eighth day of October Mr. Cartwright was
brought before the Commissioners in the Consistory
of St. Paul's.2 The Archbishop was not present, for
Lord Burleigh, thinking it unmeet that he should
sit in judgment upon one against whom he had
sustained a public and sharp controversy in eccle
siastical matters, had advised his absence.3 At the
opening of the Court, Mr. Cartwright was required
to take oath that he would answer truly any inter
rogatories which might be offered touching articles
"to be objected against him." This he utterly re
fused, declaring " that questions might be proposed,
by a true answer to which he might accuse himself;
and that to require such an oath, especially of a
minister, was in his opinion contrary both to the
laws of God and the laws of the land."* The Com
missioners rejoined by assuring him severally, and
upon their credits, that by the laws of the realm he
was obliged to take the oath and to answer as might
be required. But Mr. Cartwright, still refusing, was
sent to the Fleet prison.5
Before the month expired he was again con-
1 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, like, whereof, I thank God, there ia
Book IV. No. I. Annals, VII. 72, not the least suspicion."
73 ; Appendix, No. XXXIX. 2 Fuller, Book IX. p. 202. Strype's
In the course of this letter, Mr. Whitgift, 338.
Cartwright complains : " My good 3 Strype's Whitgift, 337 bis.
name has been most slanderously ' Ibid., 337, 338.
rent and torn in sunder ; as to be a * Fuller, Book IX. p. 203. Col
dicer and to have thrust one through lier, VH. 129.
the leg with a knife, and other such

Ch. XL] FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 377
vented.1 Upon this occasion they read unto him
"the Heads and Generals" of the articles objected
against him ; hoping, as it would seem, thus to draw
him to the taking of the oath. Upon hearing this
outline, Mr. Cartwright said : " I perceive that it is
objected against me that I have given over my min
istry and taken another; and that I have ordained
ministers, held conventicles, and called synods.
These things are truly criminal. Therefore, — albeit
I hold not myself bound by any law in this cause
to take an oath, — inasmuch as I would free my
ministry from such suspicion and myself also from
the suspicion and jealousy of the magistrates (her
Majesty especially), I am content, if no other proof
will suffice, to take an oath clearing myself of these
things, and others like them, if such others there be.
Provided, however, that I shall first have the articles
themselves, and also have counsel who shall with
me deliberate what answers to give up. To such
answers, so prepared, I consent to be sworn. And
whereas you have objected to me the making of
libels, although (Martin Mar-prelate set apart) I
esteem some which you, or some of you, judge
libels, dutifully and learnedly written ; yet because
I have already professed that I have not dealt in
them, I refuse not to answer even to that also.
And if there be any article to which I shall re
fuse to answer upon oath, I will give my reasons
therefor. If this do not satisfy the Court, then will I
submit myself to the punishment you shall award." z
Three several times, since the commitment of Mr.
Cartwright and his friends, had Lord Burleigh ad-
1 Strype's Whitgift, 337. • Ibid., 338.
VOL. HI. 48

378 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." [Ch XT.
dressed the Archbi-hop, seeking to stay, or at least
to mitigate, the proceedings of the Commissioners.
In one of his letters he had iterated an opinion
which he had before expressed with earnestness.1
" Tour Grace must not think that I am carried
away with any particular regard for this man, or
to any " — his associates — '• to comfort them in
walking disorderly. Yet I pray your Grace to bear
with this my conceit, namely, that I see not that
diligence or care taken to win these kind of men
that are precise, either by learning or courtesy, which
as I imasrine might reclaim them." 2
But his Grace and his colleagues recognized only
the subject in the citizen. Therefore they did not
comprehend his lordship, who both recognized and
respected the manhood of the citizen; and his in
tercessions were of no avail. Mr. Cartwright and
his brethren were still held in prison for contumacy'
in refusing an oath by which they might be com
pelled to accuse themselves.3 Why they were im
prisoned nearly six months before the oath was
demanded, and even before they were permitted
to know the charges against them,4 must be left
CO '
to such conjecture as charity may suggest. Magna
Charta, could it then have been heard, would have
protested, — -- No freeman shall be taken or impris
oned without cause shown ; or be detained without
being brought unto his answer in due course of
law. No person shall be put upon trial from rumor
or suspicion alone, but upon evidence of lawful wit-
* Ante, Vol. H pp. 421, 422, 437. lin's History of the Presbyterians,
1 Strype's Whitgift, 337. Book IX. Sec. 18.
* Ibid., Appendix, p. 150. Hey- * Strype's Whitgift, App., p. 150.

Ch. XI.] "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 379
nesses." But the despotism of the priesthood trod
alike upon the manhood of the citizen and the
fundamental law of the land. The canon or civil
law was still in contention with that of the realm.
"I know your canonists can defend these with all
their particles," Lord Burleigh had written to the
Archbishop six years before ; a and with good rea
son he might have repeated it now, for in this very
year "several of the most learned doctors of the
civil law" pronounced a judgment to sustain the
Commissioners in their enforcement of the oath ex
officio? We repeat it therefore, and with some con
fidence, that the canon or civil law still asserted
its pretensions against the laws of the realm.
It was an opportune time for his Grace of Can
terbury to be " very busy more effectually to deal
with the Puritans," for the Earl of Leicester was
out of the way, Sir Francis Knollys was tongue-
tied by her Majesty's inhibition of anything from
his lips which might impugn the authority or the
official acts of the bishops,3 the queen had just
been stirred up to new jealousy and anger against
the Puritans, and had spurred her Commissioners
against them,4 and Sir Francis Walsingham had
deceased on the sixth day of April.5 Thus the Pu
ritans were left comparatively friendless at Court.
Of their powerful protectors who dared to speak,
only the Lord Treasurer remained. Besides, the
Commissioners had raked together some extrava
gant and violent expressions against the authori-
1 Ante, Vol. II. p. 421. ' Strype's Whitgift, 361.
1 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, 4 Hey lin's Presb., Book IX. Sec. t
Book IV. No. II. - Ibid. Camden, 444.

380 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." [Ch. XI.
ties of both Church and State, which they charged
upon all those who were disaffected towards the
Establishment,1 and which told hard against them.
The Archbishop took advantage of all these con
curring accidents ; Walsingham had but just drawn
his last breath, when his Grace commenced his
"more effectual" operations bj* arranging for the
summons of Mr. Cartwright and the arrest of his
associates. He pushed his advantage to the ut
most. Finding that most of their prisoners were
resolute against the oath, the Commissioners could
do nothing more by their own authority "to fur
ther the discovery of their courses,"2 except to
inflict protracted imprisonment, deprivation and
deposition from the ministry. All these measures
they now adopted toward " sundry of them " for
their contumacy.3 The Archbishop4 and his col
leagues5 therefore "referred both the persons and
the cause " to the Court of the Star-Chamber,6
which had a larger power to inflict punishment.7
Attorney-General Popham, Serjeant Puckering,
and others therefore took the case into considera
tion, and drew up a Paper dated Feb. 3d, 1590, —
i. e. 1590— l,8 — alleging against these ministers cer
tain seditious opinions, practices, and intentions;
and expressing their own opinions jointly, "sub
ject always to her Majesty's most grave and ex
cellent wisdom," in the following words : " These
enormities being so weighty, and aggravated with
1 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, 4 Marsden, 175.
p. 140. Heylin's Presb., Book VHI. ' Heylin's Presb., Book IX. Sec. 4,
Sec. 31. " Ibid.
2 Strype's Whitgift, 3G0. " Strype's Whitgift, 3G0.
" Ibid., Appendix, p. 141. " Ibid., 301.

Cn. XI.] "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 381
so intolerable disobedience in refusing to be ex
amined upon oath, it seemeth unto us that this
matter is of as great and dangerous consequence
to the Commonwealth as anything that of long time
hath happened. And therefore, for further discov
ery of their courses, and an exemplary punishment
to the terror of others, it is proper to be brought
to a speedy and public hearing (upon bill and in
terrogatories) in the Star-Chamber against some of
the principal dealers ; and the penalty thereof fit
to be as grievous as by any order and precedent
of that Court hath been, or may be, inflicted. And
because, for misdemeanors of far less quality and
danger, we find by precedents showed unto us, that
banishment and condemnation to the galleys have
been imposed, therefore, for many considerations
we think perpetual banishment to be the most fit
punishment in this case, so that it be into some
such remote place as there shall be no danger of
their return, nor of disturbance of the common
quiet of the realm by their writings or otherwise." 1
Such was the terrible doom now hanging over the
heads of ripe scholars, earnest ministers of Christ,
and loyal subjects of the queen. The issue of these
advices we shall soon see.
The way was now prepared. Yet there was de
lay, — for the bitterness of prison life might per
chance subdue the spirit of Christian heroism, — and
it was not until three months afterwards (May
13th, 1591) that "some of the principal dealers"
were arraigned in the Star-Chamber.2 "The main
charge against them was, that they meant to over-
1 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, p. 141. a Strype's Whitgift, 361.

382 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." [Ca. Xl
throw the established government of the Church,
and by force to bring in, in the room thereof, their
own Discipline." 1 In opening the case, the Attorney-
General bitterly reproached the defendants for hav
ing refused the oath, under pretence that the Arti
cles were unknown to them. To this statement,
Mr. Fuller, counsel for the defendants, began to
reply. But the Lord Chancellor Hatton interrupted
him, and put a stop to further proceedings for the
present. " The proper order is," said he, " that Mr.
Attorney, when informing for the Queen's Majesty
in the Star-Chamber against any person, should
have his witnesses ready to prove such matters as
he informeth, if the parties accused shall deny the
information or any part thereof. This course he
hath not kept, because he hath not his witnesses
ready. Therefore, for lack of such witnesses, the
Court, having taken due consultation hereupon, do
order that the Lord Archbishop's Grace shall ap
point one doctor of divinity and one doctor of the
civil law to join with Mr. Attorney for his better in
struction in further prosecuting his information against
the prisoners." 2 Thus the proceedings were stopped.'
1 Strype's Whitgift, 367. I have given above. Both refer,' as
1 Neal and Brook, who usually run their authority, to the very pages
parallel, have made a strange and of Strype whence I construct my
unaccountable representation of this account But there is not a sylla-
transaction. They say that, when ble in Strype to this effect. He
Mr. Fuller was interrupted, " he was nowhere intimates that these words
commanded to be silent," (as though were uttered in the Court at all
he were forbidden to interfere in much less, that they were spoken to
behalf of his clients,) " and was told browbeat Mr. Fuller. Nor is there
that far less crimes than theirs had a word said by Strype to imply that
been punished by the galleys or Mr. Fuller was prevented from pro-
perpetual banishment," &c. ; quot- ceeding, except just as Mr. Popham
ing the Paper of advice from Pop- was prevented.
ham, Puckering, and others, which * Strype's Whitgift, 361, 367.

Ch. XL] "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 383
Although the High Commissioners had sent the
defendants to the Star-Chamber, they still held
them within their own grasp. Thus, soon after
this brief scene, and in the same month, they
singled Mr. Cartwright from his fellows, and again
brought him before their own Court. Upon this
occasion, they held their session in the palace of
the Bishop of London. They also withheld from
him the warning usually given to prisoners, and
called him before them secretly. These extraordi
nary measures were adopted " lest any that favored
Mr. Cartwright's cause should come in."1
Mr. Cartwright labored under many bodily in
firmities, and suffered much from the sciatica and
"the gout especially." He had also been much re
duced while in prison from the effect of medicines.
In this condition, he had appealed to the Privy
Council for the privilege of fresh air, which his
physician assured him was the medicine proper
to his case.2 When he now appeared before the
Commissioners, sick and unbefriended, the Bishop
of. London vehemently upbraided him, upon the
threshold of proceedings, with having abused the
Privy Council by informing them of bodily ailments
with which he had not been troubled!
• " But, my lord," said Mr. Cartw*right, " suffer me
to speak a word upon so grievous a charge, if it
please your lordship."
" Be silent. I suffer no such thing. I have other
matter to charge you withal. You have also abused
her Majesty by saying, in a supplication you have
1 Strype's Whitgift, 8G2 ; Ayl- a Strype's Annals, VII. 71 ; Cart
mer, 309. wright to Lady Russcl.

384 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." [Ch. XI.
addressed to her, that the oath we have before
tendered to you was not according to law. More
over " — and his lordship proceeded through a long
accusatory speech which we need not recite. He
concluded by demanding that Mr. Cartwright should
now take the oath which he had before refused.1
" My lord, and all you of this honorable Council,
I pray leave to rejoin so far as — "
"You may keep silence, sir," said the Attorney-
General. -- 1 have something to say myself to this
honorable Court. It be a dangerous thing, sirs, that
a man upon the conceit of his own head, and yet
under color of conscience, should refuse the things
that have been received for laws of long time.
This oath to answer interrogatories that was ten
dered to the prisoner, was tendered according to
the laws of the land  Albeit, because the
laws of men, they may carry always some strain
of imperfection, I have now to deal with Mr. Cart
wright in two points. One is, the peace of the
land, which hath been broken by him and others,
through unlawful meetings and making of laws.
The other is, the justice of the land which he and
others have offended against in refusing the oath
now tendered  Nor — in my conscience I
say it — are there any learned in the laws ofthe
land that do judge it unlawful. I exhort you there
fore, Mr. Cartwright, to take the oath ; the rather for
that you being aged should have more experience,
and, with experience, more wisdom, than others
who have refused it."
"Take the oath," said Bishop Aylmer.
1 Strype's Whitgift, 262 ; Aylmer, 160, 161.

Cn. XL] "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 385
"Before I come to the matter of the oath, let
me be received to answer the grievous charges
given partly against myself, and partly against my
self and others ; the charges uttered by Mr. Attor
ney, but especially those uttered by your lordship."
"Nay," retorted the bishop, "you shall not answer
to anything but only to the oath, whether you will
take it or no, to answer interrogatories under the
Articles which you have seen."
"A hard course it is, my lord, to give open
charges, and the same very grievous, such as your
lordship hath but just now charged me withal, and
yet to shut me up from all answer of them."
"Answer first touching the oath. Then shall you
be admitted to answer the charges which I have
brought." We know not what answer Mr. Cartwright would
have given to these charges; but to the first —
that of abusing the Council by representing him
self as sick when he was not — he would have
alleged the testimony of his physician, who had
witnessed it under his own hand, which certificate
the Archbishop had taken from Mrs. Carhoright and
would not restore it. Other testimony he would also
have brought from the same source, and to the
same effect. But the Court would not suffer him
to answer one word upon the matter, although he
humbly besought that he might do so.1
" Well, your lordship, I am shut up to answer
following the order which your lordship hath ap
pointed. I therefore say that I have already made
answer to the Articles of which you would ex-
1 Strypo's Annals, VII. 71 ; Cartwright to Lady Russel.
VOL. iii. 49

386 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." [Ch. II
amine me upon oath. This answer I have drawn
forth of mine own bosom, and cannot make answer
further." '¦' Your reason ? "
" I lav the chief strength of my refusal upon the
law of God ; next upon the law of the land, which,
in some men's judgment professing the skill of the
laws, do outwarrant such proceeding."
'•' Take heed," said Dr. Lewin, " lest in refusal of
this oath you refuse that which the prince hath
authorized. You are greatly deceived in calling it
the oath ex officio, for it is by express words derived
from her Majesty's authorit}*. It is by a power dele
gated to us."
" Take heed to that," said the Bishop.
" In calling it an oath ex officio I speak by warrant
of this Court, for so your lordship hath called it
So hath another of the High Commission (not pres
ent), calling it the oath of Inquisition."
" I deny that I have done so," replied his lordship.
" I appeal to those present " ; — upon which his
lordship was silent. '•' But moreover," added Mr.
Cartwright, •¦' I have seen commissions from her
Majesty wherein there was no mention of proceed
ing by corporal oath."
"But." interrupted Dr. Bancroft 
" I desire that I may make an end of my answer."
" Very well,"' replied the Doctor ; " speak if you
will, and I will keep silence."
" I will give place, and proceed after with my an
swer if I can remember it."
" The High Commissions have been altered," Dr.
Bancroft continued, "as occasions  have re-

Cu. XI] "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 387
quired. The former commissions had not inserted
into them the clause of proceeding by oath."
" Your saying amazeth me," interposed the Bishop.
"I do deny it. The clause of proceeding by cor
poral oath hath always been inserted."
"Your lordship must pardon me," replied- the Doc
tor, "but I reaffirm that the former commissions
had not the oath, and this I am willing to declare
publicly." "And /declare," replied his lordship, with some
choler, " that I have been Commissioner these thirty
years, partly in Lincoln and partly in London, and
have always had that clause of the oath inserted." 1
This episode past, Mr. Cartwright resumed. "Al
though this Court may, by the words of her
Majesty's commission, proceed by oath, yet it doth
not follow that they may proceed by oath without
any to accuse, without limitation, and without rea
sonable time for deliberation and advice what to

1 Mr. Strype covertly charges a I can only refer the reader to the
cowardly falsehood upon tho Bishop, evidence upon this point which I
when lie adds, "His fear being (as havo detailed in Vol. II. pp. 389-
it Beemoth) lest they, having used 892. I sec no reason to change the
tho oatli always and having no com- opinion there expressed. The let-
mission " — to do so — " but now ter of three commissions proves Dr.
of late, should be thought to be in a Bancroft to have been in error ; and
prcemunire ; for that they had used that of tho first commission, issued
it so many years without warrant." in 1559, is strong presumptive evi-
Tho contradictory assertions at dence that succeeding commissions
this examination upon the particular did not contain less powers. Tho
point, whether tho clause of tho testimony of Bishop Aylmer is not
oath had always been inserted or to bo impeached; and Mr. Cart-
not, are remarkable ; particularly wright, in looking at some former
that of Mr. Cartwright, that " ho commissions, may havo been super-
had teen commissions from her ficial, or his memory may have
Majesty wherein there was no men- failed him.
lion of proceeding by corporal oath."

388 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." ICn. XI
answer. Therefore, I refuse not to swear simply
but to swear in such sort as the Court do require,
Surely this is not opposing the authority of the
prince." Some debate now arose upon the difference be
tween the oath tendered by the Commissioners and
that tendered by other courts. Mr. Cartwright af
firmed that " in the other courts the oath was
restrained to some particular matter which the de
ponent knew before he took the oath."1 After
some conversation upon other points, Mr. Attorney
resumed : " Upon the other point which I allege
against you, Mr. Cartwright, — your unlawful meet
ings and making of laws, — you have not touched."
" I am ready, sir ; for my answer upon this point
is before you.2 If you so require, I will confirm
it upon oath, viz. That we have never held confer
ences by any authority ; we have never made any
laws by any manner of compulsion to procure any
obedience unto them ; we have expressly stipulated
by subscription that we do not so much as volun
tarily and by mutual agreement practise anything
contrary to any law in the land."
"Authority you had none," replied Dr. Bancroft,
" and therefore could not use it."
" We might have had ecclesiastical jurisdiction of
reproof, suspension, excommunication, degradation,
— as we have been untruly charged to have done,
— had we thought it laivful for us so to do."
" Take the oath," said the Bishop, " and then we
1 Compare ante, Vol. II. p. 425. October when before the Comma-
Probably in writing ; according sioners.
to his proposal on the eighth day of

Cu. XI. | r FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 389
will tell you wherein your answer is short and re-
quireth addition."
" So, then, an oath shall not make an end to the
controversy ? "
"Mr. Cartwright," said Dr. Bancroft, "think you
thus to go away into the clouds ? or think you that
you have to deal with men of so small judgment
that we see not what is your drift ? Do not we
know from whom you draw your Discipline and
church government ? Do we not know their judg
ments and practice, which is to bring in further
reformation by force and arms ? "
" My meaning is not to hide myself in the clouds
touching this matter, for it is one to which I have
made a plain and direct denial. And if anything
on this point of force and arms be doubtful, I will
make it as plain, Mr. Doctor, as you can set it down.
But I do now perceive that, if others of the Court
be of like mind with yourself, all purgation of
ourselves by oath will be in vain ; for whatsoever
we may depose, yet it will be answered that you
know our drift well enough."1
'•' Mr. Cartwright," said the Bishop, " I ask you
once again, will you take the oath?"
" I cannot."
"Enter an act of that answer, Mr. Eegister."
" Permit me to remind your lordship of your lord
ship's promise, that if I would first answer touching
the oath, (which I have done,) I should be admitted
to answer the charges given against me, which I am
fully ready to do " ; — referring to the charges made
1 Compare ante, Vol. H p. 406 : " The respondent was never cleared
npou his own denial," &c.

390 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." [Cn. XI
by the Bishop at the opening of the court, particu
larly to the statement that Mr. Cartwright had
feigned sickness.
" 1 have no leisure to hear your answer. If you
would answer, do it by private letter." Thus the
Bishop charged Mr. Cartwright with lying, and him
self broke his own open promise.1 Mr. Cartwright
was then sent back to prison.
Before the first day of June,2 a bill was entered
in the Star-Chamber "against him and the rest,"3
charging them with certain doings in classical and
synodical assemblies, with having done all they
could to defame the ecclesiastical government, the
established form of Common Prayer and of the ad
ministration of the sacraments, and with having re
fused the oath ex officio?
To these articles the defendants gave their an
swers in writing, siuearing to the truth of the same?
The most important points in their answers were:
That they acknowledged her Majesty's supreme
authority, as expressed in her injunctions and laws : e
That they acknowledged the ecclesiastical govern-
1 I have given the dialogue dur- 6 Strype's Whitgift, 371.
ing this examination almost literally ' If this seems to the reader in-
(except the omission of immaterial consistent with what I have said
parts) as it is given by Mr. Strype Vol. II. p. 320, let him compare tho
in his Life of Whitgift, pp. 362- last paragraph of the note, Vol. I. p.
365, and in his Life of Aylmer, pp. 523. Cartwright and his followers,
309 - 319. I have made no changes while they assented to the language
in the language, except just so far of the queen's injunctions (see Vol.
as to make it intelligible to modern I. pp. 149, 150) and laws concerning
readers. her supremacy, and bold that the
2 Strype's Whitgift, 371, 372. prince should support the decrees
8 Ibid., 366. of the clergy, also held that ho
* Ibid., Appendix, Book IV. No. ought not to exercise spiritual juris-
IV. diction. See Hallam, 114.

Cn. XI.1 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 391
ment and the sacraments administered, together
with the whole order of public prayer and cere
monies, to be such as no person ought therefor to
make any schism or withdraw himself from the
Church : l That they acknowledged that no synods,
assemblies, or conventicles ought to be within her
Majesty's dominions, to treat, conclude, or establish
any constitutions to be put in practice in any eccle
siastical matter, or for the alteration of laws or
ordinances, without her Majesty's authority and as
sent; but that meetings to talk of these matters
peaceably, and only how to refer the same to au
thority established, they think lawful : 2 That the
articles which they had subscribed in their assem
blies were but a declaration of their judgment, leav
ing the determination to her Majesty and the Par
liament : 3 That they had not used, or caused to be
put in use, .any other form of Common Prayer than
that established : 4 That they desired reformation by
law only, and not by force, which they hold unlawful,
and protest they never purposed or thought the
same : D That in their meetings they never took any
authority to treat of or conclude any affairs of all
the churches of the kingdom, or of any of them : °
That they had never done or devised anything
falsely or unjustly to deface or deprave the ecclesi
astical government or Common Prayer, or adminis
tration of the sacraments : 7 That neither by letters
or otherwise had they at any time persuaded any to

p. 142,

Strypo's Whitgift, Appendix, 4 Ibid., p. 14G.
¦42. 8 Ibid., p. 147.
* Ibid., p. 143. « Ibid., p. 148.
' Ibid., p. 145. ' Ibid., p. 149.

392 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." [Cn. XI
submit to the practice of their form of Discipline
without the magistrate's authority : That they re
fused the oath only upon conscience, and not (as
was alleged in the bill) to cover their purposes
until, by multitude of complices, they could put
the same into practice by force : x That they never
purposed to use any means of reformation but
teaching, prayer, and supplication to her Majesty
and the Parliament, with declarations of the reasons
moving them thereunto ; and that to procure or
intend any such seditious attempts as the bill in
sinuated, they unfeignedly declared were worthy
of death temporal and eternal.2
Eight of the brethren had submitted to the oath
ex officio, and had been sifted by the most search
ing questions.3 Mr. Cartwright and several others
— though refusing that oath — had replied upon
oath to the several explicit charges of a formidable
and minute bill. The Star-Chamber Court had ar
rayed its powers, and had appointed a doctor of
divinity and a doctor of the civil law to help Mr.
Attorney-General. The result of all these meas
ures we record with satisfaction. -¦ When all their
wits " — referring to Popham and his helpers —
" were laid together, there was no matter proved
of any meetings or conventicles seditiously made
and executed by Cartwright and his fellows. And
at the last, the Lord Chief Justice persuaded the
Lord Chancellor and the rest  that they should
not deal against Cartwright and his fellows until
1 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, p. * Strype's Whitgift,3"l ; Appen-
150. dix, Book IV. No IX.
' Ibid., p. 151.

Cn. XL] FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 393
they should have matter to prove some seditious
act de facto to be committed by them."1 In other
words, the bill was quashed, and the prosecution
surceased in the Star-Chamber, because they could not
be sustained.
Nothing more could be done with Mr. Cart
wright and his "contumacious" brethren but to
make them drink to the dregs the cup of a rigor
ous imprisonment. Yet not even by pretence was
this enforced as a punishment for any overt crime,
or intent of crime, against the State ; but only for
their disobeying the order of a canonical court, —
an order at variance with the fundamental law of
the realm. Virtually, these men had been acquitted
by the most arbitrary secular court. What then
must we think of the persistent tyranny of the eccle
siastical court which could, in face of this virtual
acquittal, doom to the dungeon, by an illegal as
sumption of power, men of such character and
such reputation ? What was thought then of this
arbitrary proceeding we shall soon show, and it
will be an additional proof of our previous asser
tion that Archbishop Whitgift and his colleagues
were behind the age. The case seemed now to be
reduced to this simple question, — Who will first
yield, the prisoners under the influence of a prison,
or the Commissioners under the pressure of public
opinion ?
We turn to another document. On the thirteenth
day of August, Mr. Cartwright — galled to the ut
most stretch of Christian patience by disease and
by those prison horrors which we shall notice here-
1 Strype's Whitgift, 367.
vol. nr. 50

394 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY" [Cu. XI
after — wrote to the Lady Eussel, a relative of
the Lord Treasurer : " The fame that ariseth from
your favor  hath no more steadiness than
the voice ivhich is committed to the air, or tvriting engraven
upon the ivatcr. ..... I beseech your honorable
mediation,  especially towards the Lord Treas^
urer  We thought the suit of ministers (some
of whom have preached the Gospel thirty years of
her Majesty's reign) upon reasonable bail to re
turn to their homes would not have been refused.
Being refused herein, I know not tvhat we should
make suit for  There is no ease so small,
but we would gladly and thankfully embrace."
" Good my lord," wrote her ladyship, " read this
through, and do what you can for the poor man."1
These appeals seem to have produced some en
couragement from his lordship ; for in December
Mr. Cartwright and his fellow-prisoners wrote to
him bespeaking his good offices in furthering an
other petition which they were about to present
to the Council for their enlargement upon bail.2
Impediments had been thrown in the way of their
access to her Majesty by petition.3 Still, about
the same time, — and probably upon some hint from
Lord Burleigh, — they addressed her by letter "in
vindication of their innocency." i In this interesting
1 Strype's Annalsi VII. 68- 72. -2, and for this reason; that Mr.
¦ Ibid., 101 - 103. Cartwright, in a letter to Lord Bur-
3 Ibid., 70. leigh of that date, mentioned this
4 This letter is given by Mr. very letter — and identified it by
Strype (Annals, VII. 120), as bear- citing a part of its contents — as
ing date of "April, 1592." So having been previously " presented
Brook and Neal. But I have von- to her Majesty." (Strype's Annals.
turcd to suppose it to have been VII. 67.)
written before January 15th, 1591

Cn. XII "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 395
Paper they complained that, upon mere suspicion
of heinous crimes, and without open accusation and
witnesses, they had been required to take an oath
of inquisition, and, for refusing it, had long been
imprisoned, and all, save one, had been deprived
of their livings and degraded from the ministry.1
In stating why they had refused the oath, they
wrote : " It is to answer whatsoever shall be de
manded of us,"  for which " we find neither
rule nor example in the Word of God  It
is to inquire of our private speeches with our
nearest friends, — yea, of the very secret thoughts
and intents of our hearts, — that so we may furnish
both accusation and proof against ourselves, which
was not used to be done in causes of heresy and
high treason. ' For,' says the statute of your most
noble father,2 - that the most expert and best learned
cannot escape the danger of such captious interro
gations which are accustomed to be administered
by the Ordinaries of this realm ; as also that it
standeth not with the right order of justice 
that any should be put to the loss of life, good
name, or goods, unless it be by due accusation and
witness, or by presentment, verdict,' &c. ; - and fur
ther, for the avoiding untrue accusation and pre
sentment, which might be maliciously conspired,
 none shall be put to answer but upon accusa
tions and presentments taken in open and manifest courts
by the oath of twelve men! " They then proceeded
to deny the charges, that they intended schism ;
that they held the Church as established to be
no true visible Church of God ; that they purposed
1 Strype's Annals, VII. 120. ' 25 Henry VIU. Cap. 14.

396 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." [Ch. XL
rebellion by force of arms ; that they impeached
her Majesty's supremacy ; that they assumed eccle
siastical authority, &c. ; which charges they effect
ually refuted so far as it was possible for the most
solemn language of appeal to Almighty God to do.1
These several measures were followed by some
amelioration of their condition. All the jietitioners
except Mr. Cartwright had liberty granted by the
Archbishop to leave their prisons on Sundays to
attend public worship, and on any other day of
the week, if any one of them should allege a special
cause of business ; they giving bonds in the sum
of twenty pounds each to return to their prisons
at night.2
Ten days afterwards, Mr. Cartwright wrote to
the Lord Treasurer, desiring further intervention
for such relief as his lordship might be able to
procure. " Hitherto," he added, " I have forborne
to make suit to his Grace, because, in the late Lord
Chancellor's lifetime,3 he denied me that favor which
he granted unto others of my fellows in the same
cause. Howbeit, as your lordship may think my
suit unto his Grace to be the way, I have pre-
1 Strype's Annals, VII. 121 - your lordship .... to use your hon-
1 27. orable means for my liberty or
2 Ibid., 06 ; Cartwright to Bur- bail."
leigh, January 15th, 1591-2. 3 Hatton died Nov. 20th, 1591.
Mr. Strype says (Life of Whit- In this sentence Mr. Cartwright
gift, 338) that this liberty was alludes, I think, to the fact stated
granted to Mr. Cartwright also, in his letter of August to Lady
But Mr. Cartwright, in the letter Russel, that he himself was forbid-
which I quote, speaks of it as hav- den ameliorating privileges during
ing been granted only " to my his prison life which were allowed
fellow-prisoners in the Clink and to his fellow-prisoners. (Strype's
White-lion " ; and, in closing his Annals, VII. 70.)
letter, says, " I humbly beseech

Cn. XI.] "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 397
pared my petition, and will refer or forbear it a3
I may understand to be your lordship's pleasure." x
The Lords of Council, having secured for Mr.
Cartwright's brethren in bonds the slight privilege
which we have mentioned, had also signified that
" the deliverance of all of them would shortlv be
accomplished." The same had been signified by
his Grace in particular. But after waiting several
weeks for the fulfilment of their hope, and the
Lord Treasurer (doubtless), in reply to Mr. Cart
wright, having advised the proceeding, they ad
dressed his Grace directly, praying for entire re
lease from restraint, upon giving bonds to appear
whenever their cause should be called up for de
cision.2 The Archbishop assented to their prayer,
on condition that they should subscribe a certain
Paper, which, for the most part, contained only
such opinions as they had already most solemnly
avowed. But it contained a few clauses in effect
as follows : — that her Majesty's relation to the
Church, and that the Church as established, were
in accordance as well with God's law as with the
laws of the realm ; that assemblies, not author
ized by her Majesty, for consulting upon ecclesiasti
cal alterations desirable, were seditious ; and that
the Presbyterian form of church government was
not only unlawful, but dangerous for the state of
the realm.3
His Grace must have known full well that —
unless the spirit of these men had been crushed
— they would never sign a Paper which, to use
1 Strype's Whitgift, 370. " Strype's Whitgift, Appendix,
' Ibid., 369, 370. Book IV. No. V.

398 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY.' [Cn. XI
their own words to Lord Burleigh, " seemed to im
pose upon us a confession of guilt in the things
we are charged with, and to say otherwise than
is truth  Now therefore we come unto your
lordship to stand our good lord that we may have
bail without further drawing us upon such . conditions 
until such time as it shall please their Honors to
call for us."1 Of course the Archbishop's condi
tions were refused.2
These protracted and but slightly mitigated pro
ceedings against men of long-tried integrity, against
men of world-wide reputation as scholars and as
Christian ministers, against men too who could
call God to witness that their consciences did not
accuse them of having violated any law of the
land,3 produced great public indignation ; another
fact indicating that the Archbishop and his asso
ciates were behind their age. " Magistrates pe
titioned against the iniquity of punishing without
trial, and of condemning without a hearing ; and
the Privy Council were angry." 4 " Tongues and
pens " were roused against the jurisdiction of the
High Commission Court, "  exclaiming every
where : That men were unworthily oppressed in
the ecclesiastical courts, contrary to the laws of
the land : That the queen could not by law grant
any such authority, neither could others exercise
it though it were granted : and that those courts
could not urge the party accused with the oath
1 Strype's AVhitgift, 370; Appen- 2 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, p
dix, Book IV. No. VI. — Cartwright 153.
and others to Burleigh, March 1st, ' Ibid., 154.
1591-2. 4 Marsden, 176.

Cn. XI] "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 399
ex officio, forasmuch as no man was bound to ac
cuse himself." These doctrines were controverted,
to be sure, by the professors of the canon law, —
the minions of priestly rule ; but they show none
the less the movement of a true, strong, and con
stitutional current destined to undermine that rule.1
King James of Scotland, also, who had before offered
Mr. Cartwright a professorship in the University
of St. Andrews,2 pleaded with Queen Elizabeth, in
a letter dated July 12th, 1591, that she would "stay
any harder usage of Mr. Cartwright and certain
other ministers of the Gospel within her realm,
 and that it might please her to let them
be relieved of their present strait."3 Sir Francis
Knollys wrote to the Lord Treasurer in January,
1591-2 : "I do marvel how her Majesty can be
persuaded that she is in as much danger of such
as are called Puritans, as she is of Papists. And
yet her Majesty cannot be ignorant that the Puri
tans are not able to change the government of
the clergy, but only by petition at her Majesty's
hands. And yet her Majesty cannot do it ; but
she must call a Parliament for it, and no Act can
pass thereof unless her Majesty shall give her royal
assent thereto. And as touching their seditious
going about the same, if the bishops, or my Lord
Chancellor, or any for them, could have proved de
facto, that Cartwright and his fellow-prisoners had
gone about any such matter seditiously, then Cart-
wrjght and his followers had been hanged before
this time. But her Majesty must keep a form of
1 Camden, 454, 455. * Fuller, Book IX. p. 203. Iley-
8 Brook, II. 117. lin's Presb., Book IX. Sec. 19.

400 "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." [Cu. XI.
justice, as well against Puritans as any other sub
jects, so that they may be tried in time convenient,
whether they be suspected for sedition or treason,
or whatever name you shall give unto it, being
Puritanism or otherwise." 1 In February, some of
the doctors of the University of Cambridge also
wrote to the Lord Treasurer in behalf of " clivers
of the true friends and lovers of the Gospel, who,
though carrying themselves in dutiful and peace
able sort, had tasted in some measure of more
hard severity than many known Papists  Our
intent," said they, " is not to commend unto your
lordship's care any causes or persons in particular,
or to move anything in general, otherwise than
may stand with the present state established and
the peace of our Jerusalem ; but only that it may
please your lordship to add to your godly zeal
and wise care the furthering, relieving, and com
forting the true and peaceable professors of the
Gospel, as your wisdom best knoweth how." 2 Lord
Burleigh himself was excited about these mat
ters, and was " bold to tell her Majesty that he
thought the bishops took a very ill and unadvised
course." 3
Notwithstanding these many remonstrances, we
do not find that any further relief was given
either to Mr. Cartwright and "his fellows for the
same cause," or to the despised Brownists, who
were then like sufferers, and whose cases were also
included. The queen, imagining herself " in as much
danger of the Puritans as she was of the Papists,"
' Wright, IT. 417. 3 Marsden. 175.
' Strype's AVhitgift, Appendix, Book IV. No. VH.

Ch. XI] "FLAT ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY." 401
and conceiving that "in this business her authority
was shot at through the bishops' sides,  main
tained the ecclesiastical jurisdiction inviolate against
all opposers."1
Mr. Cartwright and his brethren remained, with
out a gleam of hope, in their respective prisons.
1 Camden, 455. Heylin's Presb., Book IX. Sec. 818.

VOL. m. 01

CHAPTEK XII.

PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS.

Robert Cawdrey arraigned, deprived, and deposed. — Lord Bukleioh
ADVISES HIS AprEAL TO LAW. — Mr. CAWDREY COMMENCES A SUIT TO
test, by Municipal Law, the Practice ok Ecclesiastical Courts. —
The Verdict of the Jury upon the Facts. — They refer to the
Court whether his Deprivation was, or was not, warranted by
Law. — The Argument upon this Point for the Plaintiff. — The
rebutting argument of the court. — a review of this argument.
— The Indignation of Loud Burleigh and of the People. — John
Udal arraigned before the Assizes at Croyden. — His Indictment.—
His previous Troubles. — His Trial. — The Verdict, Guilty of Felony.
— The Court urge him to Submission. — His Plea for Staying of
Sentence. — Is sentenced to Death. — Order for his Respite. — His
Conference with a Messenger from the Queen. — Sir Walter Ra
leigh INTERFERES IN HIS BEHALF. — ANOTHER OVERTURE. — Mr. UDAL
signs an Acknowledgment. — The Archbishop unwilling for his Par
don. — The London Merchants seek his Liberation ; but in vain —
His Sufferings and Death in 'Prison. — Considerations Upon his
Case.
1590-1592.

The strife of religious parties was thickening.
Stern, jealous, Procustean ecclesiasticism, with its
anathemas, its jailers, its secret tortures, and its
hangmen, stood arrayed against high-minded but
loyal Puritanism, which had no earthly might but
remonstrance and endurance. Yet this despised
might — like the water which trickles beneath a
sandy foundation, and which no daubing with un-
tempered mortar can check — was undermining the
towering structure whose very pressure had forced

Ch. XII.J PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS 403
its flow. The High Court of Commission — like the
Koc of Eastern fable — had struck out wing and
talon, and was swooping up its prey. Such prey !
the choice .ones of the flock of Christ ! For the
slightest ceremonial delinquency, the humble curate
was beggared. For private and peaceable consulta
tion upon lawful measures for ecclesiastical reform,
the faithful adherent of the Church was consigned
to a common prison, with the common herd of
profligates. So also was the bolder, but no less
offensive, Separatist. Between the years of 1586
and 1593, countless were the moans of Christ's dis
ciples, whom he heard, comforted, and purified under
their afflictions. Their stifled cries came not out
to the busy crowds of London and Southwark ;
but from the noisome prisons of the White-lion, the
Clink, the Fleet, the Gate-house, Newgate, Bridewell,
the Wood-Street Counter, and the Poultry Coun
ter, they went up. The last whisper of affection,
the last smile of hope, 'the last sigh of life from
many souls ripe for heaven, were witnessed by
the gloomy walls whence God took them to him
self, and by the wondering reprobates from whom
he delivered them. Some of them murmured their
last invocation upon the gallows. But we anticipate
a narrative whose details throng upon our vision.
We resume, through many pages to verify our
words. In the midst of these fiery trials, one man was
destined to play an aggressive part. In view of its
moral effect, we think it an important part. The
rector of Luffenham, in the tiny county of Eutland,1
1 Coke, Part V. p. i.

404 PURITANS LN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Cu. XH
was a man of good repute as a scholar, a preach
er, and a Christian.1 This man, Eobert Cawdrey,
happening in the pulpit to allude to a point in
the communion book which seemed to warrant an
ignorant and unfaithful ministry, exclaimed, under
the excitement of the moment, " A vile book ! Fie
upon it ! " Except in not using the sign of the
cross and the ring in baptism and marriage, and in
not wearing the surplice, a robe offensive to his
parishioners, he was a conformist.2 These six
words cost him five several citations before the
Consistory of St. Paul's, a temporary imprisonment,
twenty-two journeys to London, much money, the
deprivation of his living, suspension, and finally, by
decree of the High Commission at Lambeth, depo
sition from the ministry.3 While these matters were
in progress, from November, 1586, to May, 1590,
the Lord Treasurer, after thoroughly investigating
the case upon the representations of each party,
had done all in his power to arrest the proceed
ings, but to no purpose.4 Mr. Cawdrey was de
prived because he had spoken against the book,
and because he would not bind himself to conform
to it in every particular.5 He was deposed because,
instead of submitting to the sentences of the Con
sistory, he still claimed title to the living and pasto
ral office of Luffenham.6 Upon the sentence of
the Commissioners, the Bishop of Peterborough, his

1 Neal, I. 195. Brook, I. 430. 4 Brook, I. 436.
! Brook, I. 434. Strype's Ayl- " Ibid., 436, 438. Strype's Ayl
mer, 130. mer, 129, 130, 139. Coke, Part
3 Strype's Aylmer, 129, 130, 142, V. p. iii.
143 Brook, I 430-439, 441. • Strype's Aylmer, 130, 139.

Ch. XH] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 405
diocesan, sequestered him from his benefice and
supplied it with his own chaplain, George Atton.1
We have already stated that it had been thought
best by the Puritans that no minister — except
in special cases — should abide by deprivation from
the ministry decreed by the bishops, but that he
should continue therein until otherwise compelled
by the courts of common law. Upon this opinion,
Mr. Cawdrey resolved to act. The Lord Treasurer,
earnestly espousing his cause, had advised that Mr.
Morrice, an able and learned barrister, should prose
cute the case at law ; but that he should first pre
sent to the Commissioners the legal exceptions to
their proceedings, with the request that they would
thereupon " review and examine " the case.2 The
attorney consented, and proceeded accordingly. The
Commissioners having taken shelter behind the
ecclesiastical law from the legal exceptions sub
mitted to them, Mr. Cawdrey, in January, 1591-2,
brought an action of trespass in the Exchequer
Court8 against George Atton, who had been in
stated in his' place at Luffenham. His chief object
was to bring the practice of the ecclesiastical courts
to the test of the municipal law. The defendant
pleaded not guilty, and the jury gave a special
verdict. They found the truth of the case at large,
referring the same for the law in the case to the
judgment of the Court. They found that the plain
tiff before the time of the trespass supposed was
Strype's Aylmer, 140. Coke, 8 Heylin's Presb., Book IX. Sec.
Part V. p. i. 20. Neal, I. 196.
' Strype's Aylmer, 140, 141.
Brook I. 440.

406 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XH
parson of the rectory of Luffenham, whereof the
place wherein the trespass was alleged was parcel.
They also found that the plaintiff before the time
of the trespass supposed was deprived of his said
benefice by the High Commissioners, both for hav
ing preached against the Book of Common Prayer
and for refusing to celebrate divine service accord
ing to the said book. And the jury concluded
their verdict thus : That if the said deprivation
were not warranted by law, but void, then they
found the defendant guilty of the trespass ; and
if the deprivation were not void in law, then they
found the defendant not guilty.1 Thus the final ques
tion to be resolved by the Court was, whether the
deprivation was, or was not, warranted by law.
The argument for the plaintiff was as follows.
The offence for which he has been deprived is
against the Act of Uniformity and against none
other Act or law ; and consequently he ought to
have been proceeded with and punished according
to the same ; and that, whether the proviso in its
eleventh section — whereby ecclesiastical judges
were authorized to take cognizance, as had been
customary by the ecclesiastical laws, of offences
against the Act — extended to the High Commis
sion, or whether it did not.2 This Act provides
that the offender for the first offence shall not be
deprived, but shall only lose the profits of his
ecclesiastical living for one year, and suffer impris
onment for six months. And such care hath the
Act for the offender in this behalf, that if he com
mit one offence, and then another, and after the
1 Coke, Part V. pp. i., iii. 2 Ibid., p. iv.

Ch. XII.j PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 407
second many more, yet shall he not be deprived
for any of the latter offences unless he has been
first judicially convicted of record by verdict of
twelve men, or by confession, or notorious evidence
of the fact. Thus the second offence, for which only
by the said act he may be deprived, must have been
committed after such a judicial and solemn convic
tion. Then, upon a like conviction for a second
offence, committed after such conviction, depriva
tion may follow.1 But in the case now in question,
the plaintiff was deprived from his parsonage for
his said first offence, being never convented or con
victed for any such offence before. Therefore the
High Commissioners have not pursued the form and
order prescribed by the said Act ; and consequently
the deprivation of the plaintiff is void, and judg
ment ought to be given for him. The strength
of the argument on this side was in this one point.
Other points were urged ; but they were compara
tively trivial, — legal quibbles, according to our ap
prehension of them, — affecting indirectly, and serv
ing only, it would seem, to complicate and encumber,
the question at issue. We therefore pass them. '
On the other hand, it was resolved by the whole
Court, that, notwithstanding this objection grounded
1 The words of the statute are : of six months  And if any such
" If any minister .... shall speak person, once convict of any offence
anything in derogation or depraving concerning the premises, shall after
of the said book, .... and shall be the first conviction offend, and be in
thereof lawfully convicted, .... he form aforesaid lawfully convicted,
Bhall .... forfeit .... for his first .... he shall, for his second offence,
offence the profit of all his spiritual suffer imprisonment by the space of
benefices .... arising in one whole one whole year, and also shall be
year next after his conviction ; and deprived ipso facto of all his spiiit-
llso suffer imprisonment by the space ual promotions."

408 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XII
upon the said Act of Parliament, the sentence of
deprivation was not to be impeached, and that for
three causes. First, that the said Act, being in the
affirmative, does not abrogate or take away the
jurisdiction ecclesiastical unless words in the nega
tive had been added, as, " and not otherwise " ;
or, •• in no other manner or form "' ; or to the like
effect. Second, if that Act had never inflicted any
punishment for depraving or not . observing the
Book of Common Prayer, yet, the same being com
manded to be observed, the ecclesiastical judges
may deprive such an offender as well for the first
offence as they might have done by the censures
of the Church and the ecclesiastical laws as if no
form of punishment had been inflicted by that
Act ; and this doth evidently appear. For thereby,
notwithstanding anything in that Act contained,
they may punish such offenders by admonition, ex
communication, sequestration, or deprivation, and
other censure and process, in like form as hereto
fore has been used in like cases by the queen's
ecclesiastical laws ; and are not bound to pursue
the form prescribed by the said Act, which is to
punish the offender by the temporal law. Third. It
was also resolved by the w'hole Court, that the
sentence given by the bishop, by consent of his
colleagues, was such as the judges of the common
law ought to allow to be given according to the
ecclesiastical laws : For, seeing their authority is to
proceed and give sentence in ecclesiastical causes
according to ecclesiastical law, and they have given
a sentence in a cause ecclesiastical upon their pro
ceedings by force of that law, the judges of the

Ch. XII] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 409
common law ought to give faith and credit to
their sentence, and to allow it to be done according
to the ecclesiastical law.1
Disclaiming all right of position upon the field of
legal dialectics and exegesis, may we not be permitted
to inspect this decision from a humbler stand-point ?
Archbishops, bishops, and their chancellors, com
missaries and archdeacons, and other ordinaries, de
rived their authority to prosecute offences against
" the Act of Uniformity which might occur within
their respective jurisdictions," from the Act itself.2
But the High Commission Court, whose depriva
tion of the plaintiff was now challenged, derived
their authority primarily from the Act of Suprem
acy and immediately from the queen's commission.
It will be perceived that the arguments for the
legality or illegality of their proceedings in this
particular case were directed to two questions, —
whether they were bound, or not, to proceed ac
cording to the Act of Uniformity ; and whether,
if at liberty to proceed according to ecclesiastical
law, they- had or had not so proceeded.
The Act of Supremacy — the foundation of their
powers — authorized them to exercise ecclesiastical
jurisdiction under her Highness ; and, in so doing,
to correct all such offences as by any ecclesiastical
power might lawfully be corrected.3 The queen's
commission was of like tenor. It empowered them
only " to reform offences which might lawfully be
reformed by censures ecclesiastical, deprivation, or
otherwise " ; — and, as if this were not sufficiently
1 Coke, Part V. pp. v. - vii. » Ante, Vol. H. pp. 394, 395.
• Sees. IV., XI.
VOL. III. 52

410 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XEL
explicit, the commission added, — "according to the
power limited by the laws, ordinances, and statutes
of the realm." x Now one would naturally suppose
that the Commissioners were distinctly bound by
the words of the Act of Supremacy, and as emphat
ically by the words of their commission, to adminis
ter deprivation " lawfully," — not merely lawfully
in a canonical sense, but -- according to the power
limited by the laws, ordinances, and statutes of the
realm," of which the Act of Uniformity was one.
But the judges decided otherwise ; that the Commis
sioners might prosecute and punish without " limit
ing" themselves by that Act or by any other.
One would naturally suppose, also, that an Act
which describes an offence, and prescribes how it
shall be prosecuted and punished, must solely in
tend that it should be so prosecuted and so pun
ished, and not otherwise, whether by one Court
or another, and in all cases ; and that therefore
the High Court of Commission, however in some
cases they might proceed by the canon law, were
in the case now under consideration tied to the
statute law. So thought Mr. Cawdrey's counsel.
But the Court decided that the Commissioners
were not thus bound, and even that they might
prosecute and punish contrary to it.
But the Commissioners stood in a distinct rela
tion to another statute ; a relation which, we think,
was at least alluded to by the plaintiff's counsel,
although it is not mentioned in the report of the
case.2 The Act 25 Henry VIII. Cap. XIX., which
1 Ante, Vol. H p. 388. report many years after the prose-
8 Sir Edward Coke drew up this cution ; so that we can by no means

Ch. XH-1 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 411
we have before brought to notice, enacted that no
canons — and much more, was the obvious implica
tion, no ecclesiastical proceedings — were of force
which " were repugnant, contrarient, or derogatory
to the laws or statutes of the realm " ; thus making
the latter of paramount authority.1 The radical
restriction imposed by this statute was in force,
because it had been revived by Elizabeth's first
Parliament ; and so comprehensive was this restric
tion as to bind the Commissioners to respect in
tact, not only the statute laws, but the common
law of the realm.2 In other words, and to repeat
what we have said before, by this Act they could
have no authority, even from their commission
itself, to prosecute or to punish, in a single case,
in any way except as prescribed or permitted by
the laws of the realm.8 But in depriving the plain
tiff of his benefice, the Commissioners did punish
otherwise than as prescribed and permitted by the
Act of Uniformity. They did more. They pro
ceeded in a manner and to a punishment " repug
nant, contrarient, and derogatory " to that law. And
the ruling of the Court in Cawdrey's case justified
them in doing so.
Thus much, under the simple guidance of what we
be confident that he states every p. iv.) Mr. Strype states positively
argument which was presented. (Strype's Aylmer, 139) that he did
Yet neither the lapse of time, nor appear before the Commissioners
any eonjeoture, enables me to ac- when his sentence was pronounced,
count for tho statement which he and that he then and there objected
puts into the mouth of Mr. Caw- to their sentence as illegal.
drey's counsel, that "he was de- l Ante, Vol. I. p. 379, note.
prived by default, in respect he • Blackstone, I. 83, 84 ; HI. 87,
appeared not, being duly precog- 100. Coke, Part XII. p. 29.
nized or warned." (Coke, Part V. * Ante, Vol. II. pp. 396, 397.

412 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Cu. XH.
trust is common sense, upon the question whether
the High Court of Commission were, or were not,
bound to proceed according to any statute when
dealing with offences against it, and when itself
prescribed positively the mode of procedure and
the degrees of punishment.
But another question occurred, — whether the
Commissioners had even kept to the ecclesiastical
law in their proceedings and sentence. Now the
Act of Uniformity was itself an ecclesiastical law,
as well as a statute of the realm. Contrary to
this ecclesiastical law they had certainly proceeded ;
and this was admitted by the judges. But the
counsel for the plaintiff — in particulars which we
have thought it unnecessary to adduce — also al
leged that they had proceeded contrary to other
ecclesiastical laws.1 By ecclesiastical law, admo
nition, excommunication, and sequestration should
have been awarded to the plaintiff before deprivation.
Whereas, the first sentence pronounced against him
was for the last and most severe punishment, —
" which was not warrantable by the Act of Uni
formity, nor any other of the queen's ecclesiastical
laws." 2 Whether this objection of fact was urged
in open court or not, does not appear in the re
port. But whether it was then urged or not, it
was known there, for it had been pressed upon the
attention of the Commissioners themselves. How
ever, the Court cut off all pleading on this ques
tion by their last resolution, which was, in effect,
that the doings of the ecclesiastical courts were
1 Coke, Part V. pp. iv., v. ' Strype's Aylmer, 132.

Ch. XII] PURITANS LN THE SECULAR COURTS. 413
beyond the cognizance of the temporal, and were
not to be scrutinized by them, but were to be re
garded as if the ecclesiastical judges were judicially
infallible and impeccable.
Thus this decision released those courts from "all
obligation to abide by statute law or by the com
mon law ; conceded to them the monstrous pre
rogative of proceeding in direct contrariety to such
laws ; and, by shielding them from all inquisition,
even allowed them to infringe, if they pleased,
upon the slight restraints imposed by the canon
law. To us, this seems none otherwise than simply
placing them above all restraint, and giving them
absolute power, however tyrannical, over all upon
whom they might lay their grasp. And when we
find the Court of Exchequer, through their whole
ruling in the case, hiding themselves and all legal
rights behind the ecclesiastical law ; when we find
them erecting a screen around the ecclesiastical
courts, not to be penetrated except as it were by
sacrilege ; and when we find them ignoring the
special Act 25 Henry VIII., and all others by that
Act protected, — we think we find the ground fairly
marked out on which was at last fought the great
battle between priestly absolutism and political
freedom. This, we believe, was the first, though not the
last instance, during the reign of Archbishop Whit
gift, of any attempt to bring the ecclesiastical
tribunals to the judgment of the temporal. It
failed. The failure made it evident that no con
vict ecclesiastical, while this decision should be
Biistained, could have remedy in the temporal courts

414 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XH.
against even an illegal sentence.1 For a while, the
sufferers succumbed, having no hope but in any
chance caprice for mercy on the part of the Com
missioners. But, although by this decision the High Court of
Commission was stayed up, and "its power better
fortified than it had been formerly,"2 there was a
reacting under-current. Outside the tribunals, the
odor of this decision was offensive. Lord Burleigh
was indignant. He again interceded for Mr. Caw
drey, requesting, though in vain, that he might be
restored to his ministry;3 thus protesting, by im
plication, that the decision of the Court was a judicial
iniquity. The moral sense of the people was out
raged, — for this case occurred simultaneously with
that of Mr. Cartwright, — and vented itself, as was
mentioned at the close of the last chapter, in a tor
rent of remonstrance against the powers of the Com
missioners, — a torrent before Avhich they quailed.
Croydon was a small market-town, of a few thou
sand inhabitants, in the county of Surrey, about
ten miles from London. We have had occasion to
mention it before, incidentally, as one of the archi-
episcopal residences. The palace of the archbishopric
there has since been converted into a factory of
cotton goods. Tlie twenty-fourth day of July, 1590,*
did not happen to be a market-day there, but it
was a day of great bustle. Many people were
gathered, especially around the building in which
1 Ante, Vol H p. 70. 3 Strype's Aylmer, 147.
* Heylin's Presb., Book IX. 4 Hargrave, L 171. Howell, L
Sec. 21. 1277.

Oh. XH] PURITANS LN THE SECULAR COURTS. 415
the assize of the county was about to convene.
There were many jokes bandied to and fro in the
crowd about the villains upon the eve of trial for
their lives ; and many were the surmises about
how the case would go with this and that culprit.
Gossip enough there was, much of which betokened
more brutality than humanity. Suddenly all this
chatter was hushed, for the Sheriff appeared mak-
.ing his way through the crowd with some half-
dozen prisoners. Tongues gave way to eyes. The
group of criminals passed slowly along, their fet
ters clanking at every step and grating upon every
ear. Defiance was in the air of each, and upon
each face an expression of malice which seemed to
chill the rabble. " Of each " — with one exception.
One prisoner whose chains clattered about him1
was of a different mould. When the people noted
his mild and placid look, the shout of execration
just quivering upon their lips was changed for a
suppressed but universal moan. " Good God ! "
Whispered one. "God and his angels defend us!"
murmured another. " It 's the parson of Kings
ton!" "God's malison on the Commissioners!"
Such mutterings passed along as the prisoners
slowly dragged their way to the hall of judgment.
When they appeared there, — and the crowd, —
there was a deathlike silence, interrupted only by
the cry, " Hear ye ! hear ye ! If any one hath
cause," &c. Then came a momentary sway of the
people, and a rustle, — and all was still again. To
see there a well-known preacher of the Gospel, a
1 Pierce, 132. Neal, I. 191. Brook, H. 13. Oldys's Life of Raleigh,
p. lvii.

416 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Cu. XH.
man of repute for his talents, his profound learn
ing,1 his blameless life, his " powerful praying," and
his eloquent" " painful preaching," 2 — to see him
there, a companion of felons and in chains, had
taken the people by surprise. It was well known
that he was in the clutches of a special commis
sion ; but it was not known to the common people
until now, that he had been handed over to a
civil tribunal to be tried for his life. And as he
stood there chained, side by side with the vilest
of men, their hatred of the ecclesiastical tribunals
gave way to their pity for the good. Mr. Baron
Clarke and Mr. Serjeant Puckering sat upon the
Bench. " John Udal, hold up your hand. John Udal,
late of London, Clerk, thou art indicted for that,
not having the fear of God before thine eyes, but
being stirred up by the instigation and motion of
the Devil, and seditiously intending and contriving
an active rebellion against this realm,  didst
set forth and maliciously publish a certain slander
ous, infamous, and seditious libel against the Queen's
Majesty, her crown and dignity, entitled "A Dem
onstration of that Discipline which Christ hath
prescribed," &c.3
We have already given a slight sketch of Mr.
Udal's previous persecutions* After a ministry at
Newcastle of about a year, — a ministry "greatly

1 While in prison he prepared the * Hargrave, I. 171, Howell, I.
first Hebrew Grammar ever pub- 1277, and Strype's Annals, VII. 28,
lished in English. (Fuller, Book (Serjeant Puckering's MS.) col-
IX. p. 222. Collier, VII. 118, note.) lated.
* Fuller, Book IX. p. 122. * Ante, pp. 253, 254.

Ch. XII] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 417
blessed to many souls," 1 — he had been summoned
to London by Lord Hunsdon, in the name of the
Privy Council. At the cost and fatigue of a journey
of eleven days, " in the sorest weather that could be,"
he had arrived at London, January 9th, 1589-90.
On the thirteenth day of the month, he had undergone
a long examination before certain " Commissioners,"
(whom we suppose to have been specially ap
pointed to examine his case,) at the house of Lord
Cobham ; by whom he was ordered " to answer
concerning certain books thought to be of his mak
ing," particularly concerning " The Demonstration
of Discipline " and " A Dialogue." When demanded
whether he made these books, or knew who had
made them, he had declined to answer; saying, "I
think the author, for anything I know, did well ;
and I know that he is inquired for to be punished.
Therefore I think it my duty to hinder the finding
of him out, which I cannot do better than thus."
In this he had persisted, although his inquisitors
had "used many words to persuade him." He had
then been sent to the Gate-house and kept close
prisoner six months; not allowed pen, ink, or pa
per, or any one to speak with him except his wife
occasionally, and she only in the hearing of his jailer.
His "chamber-fellows" there had been Seminary
priests, traitors, and professed Papists. From the
Gate-house, he had been removed to the White-lion
in Southwark, and thence to Croydon.2
We quote the passages in "The Demonstration"
which were alleged against Mr. Udal in the in-
1 Brook, H 10. Pierce, 129.
'Howell, I. 1271-1277. Hargrave, I. 167-171.
VOL. in. 53

418 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch XII
dictment. They were contained in the Preface of
the book, and were addressed " To the supposed
governors of the Church of England." "Who can
without blushing deny you to be the cause of all
ungodliness ? seeing your government is that which
giveth leave to a man to be anything saving a
sound Christian, in retaining that Popish hierarchy
first reigning in the midst of the mystery of in
iquity and that filthy sink of the canon law. Cer
tainly it is more free in these days to be a Papist,
an Anabaptist, of the Family of Love, yea, any most
wicked whatsoever, than that which we should be.
And I could live these twenty years in England
(yea, in a bishop's house it may be), and never
be much molested for it ; 1 so true it is, that which
you are charged with in ' A Dialogue ' lately come
forth against you, and since burned by you, you
care for nothing but the maintenance of your digni
ties, be it to the damnation of your own souls and
infinite millions more." 2 Mr. Udal was indicted as
being the author of the whole book, "The Demon
stration " ; but with more special reference to this
prefatory passage, as being " to the defamation of
the queen, to the subversion of the laws, to the in
stigation of rebellion, and contrary to the statute
in such case made and provided.''3 His indictment
having been read, Mr. Udal was required to plead.
He craved leave to answer by counsel, which was
refused. He then pleaded " Not Guilty " ; and when
1 See as proof, ante, Vol. H pp. IX. Sec. XI. Collier, VII. 117, 118.
260, 261. Strype's "Whitgjft, 313.
', Strype's Annals, VII. 28, 29; a Puckering's MS., Strype's An
Puckering's MS. Fuller, Book IX. nals, VII. 28, 29.
pp. 221, 222. Heylin's Presb., Book

Ch. XII] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS.

419

he asked how many of the jury he might challenge,
he was answered, " Nay, I sit to judge, and not to
give you counsel." He then craved of the Court,
that when Mr. Daulton, the counsel for the queen,
had spoken to one particular point, he might be
forthwith permitted to answer, and without inter
ruption. This was granted. The prosecuting attor
ney then inveighed severely against Puritanism
and against Puritans in general, "who would," said
he, "have a pastor or shepherd over every congre
gation whereby to take the government out of
her Majesty's hand, and so her to be one of their
sheep. No ! her Majesty is no sheep under any
shepherd in the world but Christ ! " 1

1 It was certainly somewhat in
consistent with this assertion, and
equally so with her Majesty's po
sition as supreme Governess of the
tho Church, that, year after year,
"she would not in Lent eat any
flesh until she had first obtained a
sole.mn license from the Archbishop
of Canterbury." (Fuller, Book IX.
p. 182.) Archbishop Parker gave
ft remarkable opinion upon dispen
sations granted to the Head of the
Church ; and it is the more worthy
of our notice because vouched by
Archbishop Whitgift. " Whereas it
is objected that the queen herself is
dispensed with in some cases (which
is a dishonor to her, having supreme
authority) by the Archbishop, who is
a subject: The answer is, that Arch
bishop Cranmer was judge of the
divorce between King Henry and
Queen Catherine, and gave sen
tence. Nor was there anything
derogated from the king's honor
thereby. And it is not absurd, or

dissonant to the notion of honor,
that bishops and priests should ex
ercise their ecclesiastical functions
towards princes and kings them
selves." (Strype's Whitgift, 195.)
There is no reasoning in this
opinion, hardly coherence. Nor is
the difficulty at all met. Indeed,
the oracle would not be worth no
ticing, except that it concedes an
important point afterwards in con
troversy. The Puritans — as in the
text — were charged with propound
ing a dishonor to the queen, in sug
gesting that she, like others, should
be subject to ecclesiastical discipline
— i. e. be deprived of spiritual priv
ileges (Neal, II. 447) — for any
scandal which by her manner of
life she might occasion to the cause
of Christ. Their true doctrine upon
this point I shall bring to view
hereafter. Pray, how much more
" absurd or dissonant to the notion
of princely honor," that a Synod of
Presbyterian clergy — if Presbytery

420 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Cn. XU
" Mr. Daulton hath used a very large speech,
which doth nothing concern to prove the indict
ment," said Mr. Udal ; '¦ and therefore, seeing I am
not called upon to dispute, I will not answer it."
" Sirrah ! sirrah ! answer to the matter which Mr.
Daulton hath against you. Mr. Daulton, proceed
to the proof."
" I will prove three points ; first, that he had a
malicious intent in making this book; second, that
he is the author of it ; third, that these matters
contained in the indictment are felony by the Stat
ute 23 Elizabeth, Chapter II."
The proof of the first point consisted of certain
statements, made in writing by Stephen Chatfield,
Mr. Udal's successor at Kingston, to the Archbishop.
They were, " that he had seen in Mr. Udal's study
certain Papers which tended, as he supposed, to the
making of such a book as this, and that Mr. Udal
had said to him, that, if the bishops put him to
silence, they would give him occasion and leisure
to be employed in writing against them." This
statement Mr. Chatfield had made when irritated
by the appearance of Martin's first tract, and at
the instigation of one Harvey and other parish
ioners of Mr. Udal, who had been made to wince
every Sunday under his pungent rebukes of sin.
But Mr. Chatfield had since bitterly deplored that
were the government established by cised in the matter of dispensation,
law — " should exercise their eccle- is not the principle conceded ? and
siastical functions towards princes," may not the same function be exer-
than that a prelatic Synod should, cised in other matters, — as depriv-
or a single man, — an Archbishop ? ing of spiritual privileges for proper
And if in either case the " eccle- reasons ?
siastical function " might be exer-

Cn. XII.] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 421
he had made this complaint. This Mr. Udal stated
and offered to prove before the Court.1
"These statements prove," said Mr. Daulton, "that
you had a purpose to write this book."
" Let the jury consider how that point is proved.
On the other hand i" can prove that this book was
extant in men's hands before my conference with Mr.
Chatfield." " But," retorted Mr. Daulton, " you cannot deny
the second point,2 — malicious intent; for it is ex
tant in your own words, that you would give the
bishops such a blow by writing against them as
they never had. Is not this most evident? What
could be plainer ? "
"I pray you, hear in what sense these words
were uttered."
"The matter is clear," said Mr. Baron Clarke,
"and we see what you can say to it well enough.
Proceed, "Mr. Daulton, to the proof of the second
point." "That you be the author," said Mr. Daulton,
"shall be proved clearly to the. jury before your
face." A Paper was then produced, purporting to be
a statement made by Nicholas Thompkins, upon oath
before her Majesty's Commissioners, that Mr. Udal
himself had told him that he was the author of
that book called " The Demonstration."
" My lords, I answer this testimony thus, denying
it to be his ; for if it be his, why is he not present
to verify it face to face according to law ? . . . .
1 Howell, I. 1279, and Hargrave, ' Meaning the second branch of
'• 172, compared with Martin's the fir<t point.
"Kpisi I,..,- p. 45.

422 PURITANS LN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XII.
I am persuaded he was mazed, and answered he
knew not what  I will verify it upon mine
oath, if it please you, that he told me that he
could not say, neither for a thousand pounds would
he say, any more than this, — that he heard me
say that I would not fear to set my name to that
book if I might have impartial judges. And further,
my lords, I have here some witnesses who will tes
tify upon their oaths how diversely he hath reported
of his statement before the Commissioners."
The witnesses then presented themselves ; but it
was ruled that, " because their testimony was against
the queens Majesty" — the prosecuting party, — "they
could not be heard." 1
After much further discourse, the judge turned
to Mr. Udal, — " What say you ? Did you make
the book, Udal ? Yea or no !  Will you take
your oath that you made it not ?  Take your
oath, and swear you did it not, and it shall suffice."
" My lords, the author is sought for, that he
may be punished. Therefore, lest he should be
found, if one after another that are suspected do
deny it, it is thought best that every one neither
confess nor deny."
-- You of the jury consider well of this. It argu-
eth that, if he were not guilty, he would clear
himself." The statement of Henry Sharpe, made upon
oath, was then read : " That he heard Mr. Penry
say that Mr. Udal was the author of • The Demon
stration.' "
1 '• It was never fully established till after the Revolution.'1 (Hume,
that the prisoner could legally pro- HL Appendix HI. p. 254, note 1.)
duce evidence against the Crown,

Ch. Xn.] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 423
"Eeports be uncertain," said Mr. Udal in reply
"And even if reports be held as true, the Arch
bishop himself told me that Mr. Penry made it;
which is more forcible for me than any of Sharpe's
reports can be against me  Besides, here is
one man saying that another said so. Let the jury
consider of what force this proof is."
Without noticing this most important objection to
hearsay evidence, the judge addressed himself to the
jury : " You have not to inquire whether he be
guilty of the felony, but whether he be the au
thor of the book ; for it is already set down by
all the judges of the land, that whosoever is author
of that book is guilty, by the Statute, of felony ;
and this was declared above half a year agone."
" Though it be so determined," said Mr. Udal,
" I pray your lordships for leave to show — and I
will be brief — that, though I were found to be
the author, yet it cannot be within the compass of
that statute whereupon the indictment is framed." -
"You shall be heard to say for yourself what
you can. Therefore say on."
" The intent of the law-makers (which always is
to be regarded) is to be considered. This intent
appeareth in the preface of the Statute in these
words, — 'To frustrate the malice of those that be
evil affected to her Highness.' Now I pray you
consider this : How is it possible that a preacher
of the same religion which her Majesty professeth
and maintaineth, known continually to pray for
her prosperity and happiness, should be maliciously
1 I refer the reader to the Act {ante, Vol. II pp. 188, 189), and par
ticularly to its fourth section.

424 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Cu. XH
affected towards her ? It is evident that the Stat
ute was made against the Papists,1 who use to
slander her Highness with the terms of heretic,
&c, and in no way against me and my brethren.
Again, the matter that maketh a man a felon
by that Statute must proceed from a malicious in
tent against her Highness, which I or any such as
I can no way be justly charged with ; for my
course of living and of teaching is known to have
tended to no other end than to provoke the people
to love and obey her Majesty. For proof where
of, I appeal to the consciences of all who have
known me  Again, the matter, to bring it
within the compass of the Statute, must be false.
But this book is written in behalf of a most true
cause. Lastly, the end of it must be either to
the defamation of the Queen's Majesty, or to the
stirring up of insurrection or rebellion. For the
matter of defamation, the whole behavior of myself
and brethren hath tended to the uttermost of our
powers to the advancement of her honor. None
of us would refuse any pain whereby her Majesty
might be better honored ; yea, we would not refuse,
if need so required, to lay down our lives for re
deeming of the least aching of her Majesty's little
finger. For the matter of moving rebellion, I pray
your lordships and you of the jury to consider
this. There have been, since the first day of her
Majesty's reign, learned men that have desired the
advancement of this cause," — a different model of
1 On this important point see in the Statute itself, and in the
ante, Vol. II. pp. 191 - 193 ;. where history of its passage in the Parlia-
I have urged all which I could find ment.

Ch. XIL] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 425
Church government, — " and many of the . people
have affected it. Yet in all this time there have
been none that have raised any insurrection by
occasion of this cause. Yea, this book now in ques
tion hath been extant these two years,1 yet no
one person hath taken occasion hereby to enter
prise any such matter. Therefore the making of
this book cannot be felony.
" Besides all this, had any such thing been meant
by the author, or received by the people, as the
indictment chargeth me withal, — defamation of her
Majesty's government, — yet, as I take it, it should
not belong to the Statute ; for the whole course of it
declareth that it is only meant of them that defame
her Highness's person, and not her government, as is
manifest by the last proviso, wherein it is showed
that the whole Statute doth determine and end with
her Majesty's life. And we may not think their
wisdoms that made that law to be so unadvised as
to make a law for the prince's government, which
is continual, to last no longer than the life of one
prince, which is temporary. Therefore it seemeth
that the Statute hath no further regard than this, —
that her Highness's person might be preserved in that
honor and dignity which becometh her royal estate.
I do beseech your lordships to answer me, — for I
appeal to your consciences as you will answer to
God for my life, — and I pray you tell the jury,
whether you do think the intent of the Statute were
in any sort meant against us, and not rather against
the Papists."
"I answer you," said Serjeant Puckering, "the
1 Martin's " Epitome," p. 4.
VOL. in. 54

426 PURITANS LN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XH
intent of the Statute is against aU, for so the words
are." •¦ The words, my lord, I confess are so. But is the
principal intent so ? " 1
••' Yea, it is so."
"' You cannot excuse yourself," said Baron Clarke,
" to have done it with a malicious intent against the
bishops and against their exercising their govern
ment which the queen hath appointed them. So it
is, by consequence, against the queen."
Much more of pertinent argument and artful repli
cation passed ; when the Baron addressed the jury,
saying, " It is sufficient only that you find him guilty
to be the author of the book. That the book is a
felony, hath already been determined  You
must find him guilty  The evidences are mani
fest." While the jury were considering their verdict, Mr.
Udal received two several messages from the Court,
'• exhorting him to submit himself and to yield unto
the judges before the jury should give their ver
dict " ; in other words, to confess that he was the
author of the book. -' Trouble me not with any
such matter," was his reply. '• I am clear in my
conscience, and therefore am not to accuse myself"
At length the -jury gave verdict that Mr. Udal was
guilty of felony.
The next day he was called upon to say why he
should not receive sentence of death ; to which he

1 Mr. Udal was charged only person," &c. How these words
with the offence described in the should be interpreted in their con-
fourth section of the Act. That nection, I have endeavored to show,
section does indeed say, ' If any ante, Vol H. p. 195.

Ch. XII.] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 427
replied : "My lords,  it hath pleased the jury
to find me guilty of that which, I thank God, never
entered into my heart. Now, therefore,  I
crave of your lordships the benefit of the pardon
granted the last Parliament." But — upon the sup
position of his guilt — he was excluded from that
pardon ; and it was so shown by the Court.1
"Here is no help for you, Mr. Udal," said the
Baron. " Will you submit yourself, or not ? else I
must proceed to judgment."
"I am ready to receive it; for I protest before
God (not knowing that I am to live an hour) that
the cause " — of reformation — " is good ; and I am
contented to receive sentence, so that I may leave
to posterity how I have suffered for it. The cause
excepted, I will submit myself in anything ; 
and I entreat your lordships to be a means to her
Majesty for me. Were I worthy that my poor
papers might come unto her Majesty, or to her
Honorable Council, I would write thus much unto
them." " Nay ! Will you write thus much unto them,
that we may first see it, and commend it to her
Majesty ? "
" I will willingly do it." Whereupon Mr. Udal
was returned to the prison of the White Lion.2
1 The Act of general pardon, person or persons,'- i. e. officers of
81 Eliz. Cap. XVI, in its Sec. VI., either branch of the government.
excepts " all offences of or in mak- a Dr. Heylin says (History of the
ing, writing, printing, or publishing Presbyterians, Book IX. Sec. 11),
of any false, seditious, or slanderous " the Archbishop was then at his
book or books, libel or libels, in any house in Croydon, and prevailed so
wise against the present government far in Mr. Udal's behalf, that the
of - this realm, in causes cither eccle- judges suspended the sentence of
siastical or temporal, or against any his condemnation " ; and he adds,

428 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Cn. XII
On the eleventh day of November he wrote to
Serjeant Puckering, praying that he either be set
at liberty, or speedily suffer the penalty of the law.1
A week afterwards, in fulfilment of his promise, he
sent to the judges a supplication addressed to the
queen. It would have been construed as an insult
to the Court, and, by construction, to the Crown,
for a convict to plead innocence. In this paper,
therefore, Mr. Udal went no further than to affirm
the unblemished loyalty of his heari, and to pray
for her Majesty's gracious pardon ; " submitting him
self, in most humble manner, to live or to die ac
cording as that power which God had given to her
Majesty to kill and to quicken should appoint.2
Their Honors replied, that " the submission did not
content them." Another, in which Mr. Udal " yield
ed as much as he could," and an earnest petition
for fresh air and for hearing the Word preached,
were also unavailing.3
In the mean time " her Majesty had forbidden the
taking away of his life " ; yet was it " threatened by
some in authority to be brought into more danger
than heretofore at the Assizes beginning the 18th
of February," 1590-1.4 On that day Mr. Udal was
again brought before the Court in Southwark ; Mr.
that the Lord Chancellor Hatton soon show, he himself afterwards
was offended " that he should show ordered a more important respite.
such favor to a man whom the law l Strype's Annals, VII. 38.
condemned." The first part of this 2 The Petition, as in Strype's
statement rests only upon Dr. Hey- Annals, VII. 32, and in the State
lin's testimony. And when it is Trials, as compared with Mr. Udal's
certain that the latter part is in- explanation of his words in Howell,
correct, the former may fairly be I. 1297, and in Hargrave, I. 179.
doubted. Hatton could not have ' Strype's Annals, VII. 40, 41.
been offended at any such merciful * Strype's AVhitgift, 344 ; Udal to
interposition, because, as I shall Burleigh.

Ch. XII.J PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 429
Serjeant Puckering and Mr. Justice Fenner on the
Bench. But his case being deferred to the last day
of the Court, his judges in the interim used many
endeavors in private "to draw him to relent," "to
make such a submission as would condemn the book
in question and justify the hierarchy."1 In the
afternoon of the first day — having received instruc
tions to that effect apparently from the Lord Chan
cellor Hatton2 — they sent to him a form of sub
mission by Sir William More and others, who were
directed to urge it upon his consent. The next
morning, they sent another delegation upon the
same errand. But as neither of these missions
availed, in the afternoon they conferred with him
themselves " by the space of an hour " ; but neither
could they prevail. Whereupon they " willed him to
write what manner of submission himself liked best
to make " ; which he did, but not to their satisfac
tion.8 At the close of this conference he presented
1 Howell, I. 1297, 1298. Har- In the paper which he offered, as
grave, I. 179, 180. the judges had willed, he said : " Al-
' Strype's Annals, VII. 34 ; Puck- though I cannot disavow the cause
ering to Hatton. and substance of the doctrine de-
3 Ibid. bated in the book, which I must
The submission required by the needs acknowledge to be holy and
judges contained an aeknowledg- (so far as I conceive of it) agreeable
ment that " The Demonstration " to the Word of God, yet I con-
eontained " matters false, slander- fess the manner of writing it is such
ous, and seditious against her Majes- in some part as may worthily be
ty's prerogative royal, her crown blamed, and might provoke her
and dignity, and against the laws Majesty's just indignation therein."
and government ecclesiastical and Then followed a petition for her
temporal " ; a petition for pardon ; Majesty's mercy and pardon, and a
and a promise " to forsake such un- promise " to carry himself in such
dutiful courses dangerous to the humble and dutiful obedience as
peace of the realm and Church." shall befit a minister of the Gospel
(Strype's Annals, VII. 36. Howell, and dutiful subject." (Strype's
I 1307. Hargrave, I. 184.) Annals, VII. 37.)

430 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XH
to the judges a paper for their consideration, show
ing why sentence against him should be stayed,
and why they should be means of his release. His
argument was as follows. The first point we omit,
because it was not urged.
" 2. In law no judgment ought to be given in case
of felony but upon a party first found guUty there
of by a verdict of twelve men. But I am not so;
for your lordship gave the jury in issue only for
the trial of the fact whether I were the author of
such a book, and freed them from inquiring into
the intent, without which there is no felony.
" 3. I humbly pray you to call to mind by what
means the jury was drawn to give that verdict.
Whether they were left wholly to their own con
sciences, or were wrought unto it partly by prom
ise assuring it should be no further danger unto
me, but tend to my good ; and partly by fear, as
appeareth in that it hath been an occasion of great
grief to some of them ever since.
" 4. In case the verdict was never so free, your
lordships are to consider whether the Statute do
agree to my case in the truth and meaning of it,
there being nothing in that book spoken of her
Majesty's person but in duty and honor ; and
whether the drawing of it from her Majesty to the
bishops (as being part of her body politic) be not
a violent depraving and wresting of the Statute ; which
if it be, you cannot in good conscience, upon such
a ground, proceed to sentence.
" 5. But if the Statute be to be taken so as it is
urged, it ought to be considered that, without a
malicious intent against her Majesty's person, the

Ch. Xn.] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 431
Statute itself maketh no act forbidden by it to be
felonious  Of which malice or malicious intent
against her Majesty, if your consciences clear me
before God,  I hope you will consider that you
cannot with good conscience proceed to judgment.
-- 6. Yet if the Statute and if the intent were such
as it is said, in case of life the evidences ought to
be pregnant, and all living witnesses should have
been produced face to face. But I have none such
against me. Neither any other thing, saving only
reports and depositions  Your lordships ought
to have a consideration that, upon so weak evidence,
sentence of death be not pronounced.
" 7. But if the same that hath been given in for
evidence in writing, had been testified by living men
in presence of the Court and myself,  no one
of the evidences do directly prove me to be the
author of the book in question. Which " — evi
dence — " as it was, hath little force in it ; as ap
peareth by this, that the author of the chiefest tes
timony is so grieved that he is ashamed to come
where he is known. Of all which you are to have-
regard, and not proceed to judgment of death upon
so weak and impertinent proofs.
" 8. If all these things were such as they ought
to be, yet your lordships are to consider (supposing
me to be the author of the book) that the said
book, for the substance of it, containeth nothing
but that which is taught  by all the best
reformed churches in Europe. So that I cannot
be condemned, without condemning them in me.
But if there be no error in them, then my error
can be only in form, circumstance, and manner of

432 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XH.
writing. But death for error of such a kind, in
terms and words not altogether dutiful of certain
bishops, cannot be but extreme cruelty 
" If all this prevail not, yet my Eedeemer liveth,
to whom I commend myself, and say, as sometime
Jeremiah said, in a case not much unlike, — -Be
hold, I am in your hands, do with me what seem
eth good unto you. But know you this, that if
you put me to death, you shall bring innocent
blood upon your own heads and upon the land.'
As the blood of Abel, so the blood of Udal will
cry to God with a loud voice, and the righteous
Judge of the world will require it at the hands of
all those that shall be guilty of it." 1
On the twentieth day of the month — the last
day of the Assize — Mr. Udal was placed at the
bar. After a fruitless " debating to and fro, in
which an hour was spent,"2 of the several points,
with the exception of the first, which he had pre
sented to the judges, Mr. Serjeant Puckering said,
" We shall make short work with you. Will you
here acknowledge all the laws, ecclesiastical and
temporal, of this land to be agreeable to the Word
of God ? "
"My lord, I have disgrace enough upon me al
ready. You may easily perceive what I think of
the present ecclesiastical government. I pray you
press me not with these things. I can yield no
further than you have heard."
" Then we must do our office, and pronounce
sentence on you."
1 This Paper is in Hargrave, Howell, and Strype's Annals, VH. 29 - 32.
2 Strype's Annals, VII. 35.

Ch. XH.] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 433
« God's will be done ! "
" Yea, God's will be done on you indeed ! "
Mr. Serjeant Puckering then pronounced the sen
tence of death ; a sentence based upon " such evi
dence as a man would not hang a dog upon," and
"for a consequential and deductory felony pen-
housed out beyond the foundation and intent of
the Statute" — "to the everlasting reproach of the
justice of the nation." l Not a drop of ink is ne
cessary to expose the unrighteousness of the Court
in their admission of evidence, and their judicial
chicanery in expounding and torturing the Stat
ute. These things stare upon us at every step of
the proceedings, and are so obvious that a child of
half a score of years can apprehend their iniquity.2
" Thou only knowest the issue ! " murmured the
wronged man as the prison-doors again closed
upon him. " 0 Lord, turn it to thy glory, the good
of thy Church, and the shame of thy foes ! Then
welcome life or death ! " 3
The morning after his condemnation, the judges
gave orders, in obedience to the Lord Chancellor
Hatton, for the respite of his execution till her
Majesty's further pleasure might be known.4 Im-
1 Pierce, 134, 135. Fuller, Book and in one instance with a sentence
IX. p. 222. — as have been necessary for the
* My narrative of this trial is but understanding of modern readers.
an outline of the report before me, 8 Howell, I. 1306. Hargrave, I.
drawn up by Mr. Udal, " with the 184.
help of others." (Howell, I. 1277, * Strype's Annals, VII. 35 ; Puck-
1295. Hargrave, I. 171, 179.) Yet ering to Hatton, Feb. 21, 1590-1.
the report is but an abstract of Mr. Brook has made a great
what passed upon the occasion, and palpable mistake (n. 21) in
(Howell, I. 1296. Hargrave, I. saying that this staying of execu-
179.) In a few instances I have tion was at the request of the Arch-
taken such liberties with words — bishop ; and that " Dr. Bancroft, by
VOL. in. 55

434 PURITANS LN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XH
mediately afterwards he was visited by Dr. Bond.
one of her Majesty's chaplains, '¦ as a messenger
from the queen herself and from the Council."
Dr. Bond's errand was. to persuade Mr. Udal to
sign the submission which had been tendered to
him by the judges. xVfter two days' conference,
they agreed upon another, which commenced with
the following proem. " With these three protes
tations, I do submit myself in manner as follow
eth. 1. I hold the cause of Discipline debated in
that book to be an undoubted truth. 2. I never
imagined any evil against her Majesty's person
or estate ; but have sought to honor them both.
3. I never proposed to do or persuade anything
whereby the Discipline might be advanced, but by
peaceable means ; endeavoring to keep within the
compass of the law." Then, bowing to the sentence
of the Court in "imputing to him the defaults
of the book," — i. e. not disputing the sentence, —
he craved her Highness's pardon, he himself " seeing
the grievousness of this " — declared — ¦¦ offence." x
Before sentence of death had been pronounced,
his order, wrote to Puckering that, proved by Puckering's letter to
if Udal's submission did not satisfy Hatton, giving an account of the
him, it was the Archbishop's pleasure proceedings of the Court. " In
that he should proceed to judgment private this morning," — Feb. 21st,
and command execution, but after- - — " we commanded the respite of
wards defer the same." What had his execution, as, bv Dr. Bancroft's
the Archbishop to do in directing letter, I understand your Honor's
the proceedings of the temporal pleasure was we should." (Ibid,
courts? This letter was indeed 35.) At this time Dr. Bancroft
written by Dr. Bancroft, but in the was Hatton's chaplain, not Whit-
name and by order of the Lord gift's, as he had been recently
Chancellor Halton, on the twentieth This change has given rise to some
day of February (Strype's Annals, other historical mistakes.
VH. 37, 38),— the day when judg- ' Howell, I. 1 507; Hargrave,!
ment was pronounced. This is 184.

Ch. XH.] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 435
Mr. Udal had procured a friend to solicit the good
offices of Sir Walter Ealeigh ; 1 and while the chap
lain and the prisoner were yet in conference, Mr.
Udal received a letter from this friend, saying that
Sir Walter willed him to inform Mr. Udal that her
Majesty had such and such dislikes to him, she sup
posing him to hold such and such doctrines against
the Church, the sacraments, and the ecclesiastical
laws of England, and against her own ecclesiastical
supremacy. The letter also requested an expres
sion of his opinions2 upon these points. "Write
half a dozen lines under your own hand unto Sir
Walter," continued the writer, "concerning these
opinions, that he may show it unto her Majesty;
he hopeth to obtain the pardon of your life."8
Mr. Udal immediately wrote to Sir Walter accord
ingly, acknowledging the Church of England and
her ordinances; her Majesty's "supreme authority
over all persons in all causes  to enforce every
man to do his duty and to be obedient in every
thing not contrary to the Word of God. And,"
he added, " if the prince should command anything
contrary to God's Word, it is not lawful for the sub
jects to rebel so much as. in tlwught." Next, he de
clared his belief that the churches ought, by the
Word of God, to be governed according to the
¦ ' Oldys's Life of Raleigh, p. lvii. to be a benefactor." (Oldys's Life
Sir Walter Raleigh was so much of Raleigh, p. lix.)
in the habit of interceding with her 2 How often did the queen violate
Majesty for her subjects in trouble, her royal pledge, that none of her
that she exclaimed to him one day, orthodox subjects should be molested
when he was doing such an office, for their opinions ? {Ante, Vol. I.
"When will you cease to be a p. 478.)
beggar?" " When your gracious s Howell, I. 1303. Hargrave, 1.
Majesty," replied the knight, " ceases 185.

436 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Cn. XII
Presbyterian plan ; adding, that " the censures of
the Church ought merely to concern the soul, and
may not impeach any subject, much less the prince,
in libeity of body, dominion, goods, or any earthly
privilege whatsoever." x
The form of submission which Mr. Udal had
drawn up at the instance of Dr. Bond was not
accepted. Yet it would seem that his paper to
Sir Walter Ealeigh and Sir Walter's mediation had
effect in prolonging his reprieve ; for from that
time he continued several weeks "without fear of
extremity."2 During this time he was visited by
Dr. Andrew, Chaplain to the Archbishop, and by
Mr. Nowell, Dean of St. Paul's.3 This happened
in May, 1591, through the intervention of the Lord
Chancellor and the Lord Treasurer. The object
of the visit was to draw Mr. Udal to such an
acknowledgment as the Lord Chief Justice An
derson had dictated.4 This prescript acknowledg
ment sent by the Privy Council was presented to
Mr. Udal with " a promise in the name of the Coun
cil, that, in yielding to it, he should obtain pardon
and liberty."5 After some hesitation, and by ad
vice of his friends, he subscribed it. But, strangely
enough, it proved that the Clerk of the Council
had sent a wrong paper ; the one intended being
the same which had before been offered by the
judges, which Mr. Udal had then rejected and
which — being now again offered — he rejected
1 February 22d, 1590-1. (Howell, » Ibid.
I. 1309. Hargrave, I. 185. Strype's * Strype's Whitgift, 374.
Whitgift, 375.) 6 Howell, I. 1310, 1312. Har-
2 Howell, I. 1310. Hargrave, grave, I. 186.
I. 185.

Ch. XII] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 43)
again.1 This was the end of all negotiations for
compromise. Afterwards, having reason to suppose that at an
approaching Assizes to be held at Kingston about
the 1st of July, 1591, his case would have a tragi
cal end,2 Mr. Udal again sought the good offices
of Sir Walter Ealeigh, and also of the young Earl
of Essex,3 the queen's favorite and " a patron of
the Puritan party."4 About the time when he
was transferred to Kingston, the intercessory letter
of the Scottish king,6 in which he mentioned both
Mr. Cartwright and Mr. Udal, had been presented
to her Majesty. Together with the mediation of
Sir Walter and the Earl, it seems to have had
influence ; for Mr. Udal was immediately sent back
to prison " in the evening before the first day of
the Assizes."8
Through the friendly offices of the Lord Treas
urer, Mr. Udal " had a pardon framed according to
his indictment," and sent it, with a petition, to the
Privy Council, who referred it to the Archbishop.
But " his Grace's good-will could not be got
ten."7 Some of the London merchants now moved
1 Howell, I. 1312. Hargrave, I. a draft of one. Mr. Strype asserts
187. roundly, that "Mr. Udal had his
' Howell, I. 1313. Hargrave, I. pardon, and that procured by the
187. Strype's Whitgift, 844. Archbishop himself " (Strype's Whit-
' Howell, I. 1313. Hargrave, I. gift, 344, 377) ; but Mr. Udal's con-
187. Oldys's Life of Raleigh, lviii. tradictory statement is decisive : " I
' Birch, I. 74. Heylin's Presb., had sent " — previous to this draft
Book IX. See. 1. of a pardon and including it —
5 Ante, p. 399. " unto the Archbishop divers pe-
" Howell, I. 1314. Hargrave, I. titions and dutiful letters, and also
188. got many of my friends, both honor-
' This is the most reliable men- able personages and others, to see
tion of a pardon which I find ; only him, yet could not his good-will be

438 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XH.
for the prisoner's deliverance. Having commercial
stations in the Levant, they proposed to the Arch
bishop that Mr. Udal should be permitted to go
with their vessels, then just about to 'sail, as a
religious teacher to the men whom they employed
abroad. His Grace promised his good-will to this
end, on condition that the merchants would be
bound that he should go when liberated. To this
they assented. But afterwards his Grace repented,
and insisted upon a new condition, — that they
should also be bound that Mr. Udal should remain
abroad until her Majesty should license his return.
'• This condition they could not yield to, because
he denied to go upon any such ground." But the
Earl of Essex and Puckering (now Lord Keeper)
" so dealt with the Archbishop," that he pledged
himself to join with the Lord Keeper " at their
next meeting at Court to deal with her Majesty
to sign his pardon, that so he might have liberty
to go." 1 But the pardon was not signed, although
it was ready in Essex's hands, and the merchant
men sailed in the month of March, 1591-2,2 leav
ing Mr. Udal still in bonds.
For more than a year, he had felt severely the
gotten." (Howell, I. 1315. Har- ' Strype's Whitgift, 377. Howell,
grave, I. 188.) In justice to Mr. I. 1316. Hargrave, I. 188.
Strype, I am bound to say that Mr. Strype is therefore very
probably he had no knowledge of much mistaken in saying that " the
Mr. Udal's report of his case ; for Archbishop did freely condescend "
when Mr. Strype wrote, that report that Mr. Udal should go. In this
was very scarce, and almost un- case we must give Mr. Udal's state-
known. So I judge from reading ment the preference to that of the
Oldys's " Life of Raleigh," p. lviii, historian.
note a. If "Mr. Udal had his * Strype's Whitgift, 377; Udal
pardon,*1 wh}' did hf 'ie in prison ? to Burleigh.

Cn. XH] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 43C
effects of his confinement. Nature had panted in
vain for the element of social life, for liberty, for
the pure air of heaven. His system had been half
wrecked by continual tossing between the expecta
tion of death and the hope of life, and his spirit
had thirsted for the assembly of the saints and
the ministry of the Word. " I pray your lordship,"
he had written to Puckering in January, 1590-1,
"for a respite from this corrupt air, from this lack
of exercise, which endanger my life. Besides, my
soul hungereth after the holy exercises of religion,
as the hunted hart desireth the water-brooks. I
crave therefore of your lordship to grant me so
much favor that I may go with my keeper to ser
mons within the borough, and into the fields to
take air for the relief of my body."1 This touch
ing plaint and prayer met no response. About
seven months after, he sued again; but only "for
the liberty of going to church." Even this " was
denied him, because he was a condemned man!"2
From the time when the Mediterranean fleet left,
the pulse of life beat slower and feebler, although
the presence of his wife and friends was allowed
to him more freely than before,3 to cheer his spirit.
Poisoned by polluted air, the natural life waned,
and ho sank slowly, without a murmur or reproach,
until, in the latter part of the year 1592,4 with a
1 Strype's Annals, VH 40, 41. ? Protrstant church so atrociously
* Howell, I. 1315. Hargrave, I. Antichristian.
'88. 3 Fuller, Book IX. p. 222.
Denying a man a.means of grace * Howell, 1.1816. Hargrave,! 188.
and of Christian consolation, because Mr. Strype dates Mr. Udal's death
his days were numbered ! I am not in 1592, and again in 1593. (Life
aware of any fact in the history of of Whitgift, 344, 375, 377. Com-

440

PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Cn. Xn

smile expressive of a glorious hope, he fell asleep
— "numbered," like his Lord, "with the transgres
sors." " The ministers of London flocked to his
funeral,"1 thus publicly declaring their esteem for
the man, and their verdict against his persecutors.
Mr. Udal never acknowledged himself the author
of " The Demonstration." In some of his " Submis
sions," language occurs which seems to imply that
he was ; but even this faint implication fades away
when we consider that, of necessity, he so framed
those papers as not to dispute the verdict of the
jury or the justice of his sentence. Upon the ques
tion of the authorship, we lack all historical testi
mony.2 Yet we incline to the opinion that Mr.

pare ante, Vol. I. p. 355, note 1.)
It may have been but a slip of the
memory or of the pen which made
Fuller contradict himself (Book IX.
pp. 222, 223) by saying that Mr.
Udal was executed.
Was his pardon ever signed ? Mr.
Petheram, editor of the Martin
Mar-prelate tracts, says that " he
was conditionally pardoned, at the
intercession of King James," (Notes
to " The Epitome," p. 62,) an in
tercession made some fifteen months,
or more, before Mr. Udal's death.
Thomas Ford, a kinsman of Mr.
Udal, wrote to Thomas Fuller (the
historian), that " he died just as his
pardon was procured " ( Oldys's Ra
leigh, p. lix., note b) , which may mean
only that it was promised, though
not signed. Mr. Strype says (Life
of Whitgift, 344) " he had his par
don " ; but afterwards he speaks of
it only as " granted," " drawn up,"
" near effected " (pp. 345, 375, 377).
He also calls his death, produced by

confinement, harassment, and pu
trid air, a " natural death " ! (p.
344.) If the pardon was complet
ed, i. e. signed, it must have been
when Mr. Udal was at the last gasp
of life, — so enfeebled that he could
not be removed ; otherwise an
hour's time would have set him free,
provided the queen were in London.
I adopt the positive and unequivocal
statement, in Howell and in Har
grave, appended to Mr. Udal's nar
rative : "Her Majesty never did
sign the pardon." This narrative
was printed as early as 1643, — if
not before, — under the title of
" A New Discovery of Old Pontifi
cal Practices " (Oldys, p. lvii.,
note e) ; but whether the closing
paragraph was appended to that
imprint, or by Mr. Hargrave in his
edition of it, I have no means of
judging. If to the former, it is of
more weight.
1 Fuller, Book IX. p. 223.
2 Ibid., 222.

Ch. XH] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 441
Udal did not write the book with which he was
charged. If he did, his refusal to avow it after con
viction and judgment is unaccountable ; for nothing
could be gained by the refusal, while an avowal
would probably have procured a commutation of
his sentence, if not a pardon.1 On the other hand,
if he was not the author, we understand at once
why he refused to say that he was. And, although
disowning the book under oath before conviction
would have " sufficed " for his acquittal,2 • yet we
find a good and magnanimous reason why he would
not disown it while he might have done so with
truth. He would not leave others open to sus
picion and jeopardy of life, although by denial he
could clear , himself. So he declared in court.8
Upon the supposition that he was not the author,
and upon this supposition only, can we understand
why he persisted to the last in neither affirming
nor denying the fact. Probably his judges supposed
that he was. But this does not explain their
course of proceeding ; an explanation which we
think is sufficiently indicated otherwise.
The queen and the prelates had been greatly
annoyed by the issue of pungent Puritan tracts,
and particularly by those of Martin Mar-prelate,
which they fancied to have the sanction of the
Puritans generally. It was therefore resolved to
demonstrate by example, that such books were
published at the risk of the gallows, and at a risk
impending over even the most learned and emi-
1 Baron Clarke to Udal in Court ; % The same to the same ; Howell,
Howell, I. 1291. Hargrave, I. I. 1282. Hargrave, I. 173.
177. 3 Howell, I. 1282.
VOL. m. 56

442 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XH
nent. For this reason Mr. Udal, supposed '• to be
the ringleader" of such writers,1 and reported to
have written " The Demonstration," was put upon
trial for his life. There was no law under which
he could be convicted of felony. There was no
evidence, on which a felony could be pretentiously
based, that he had written the obnoxious book.
Of both these facts the judges were perfectly
aware. They therefore tried their skdl at wresting
a statute and browbeating a jury, commanding
them to receive as evidence what the Court them
selves, the jury, and every ear that heard it or
heard of it, knew was no evidence. They held
their offices and their emoluments at the will of
the Crown. It was the will of the Crown that
this prosecution should be sustained either by con
fession or by verdict. Confession, much as it was
urged, could not be obtained. Verdict was forced.
That the judges wittingly proceeded only by craft,
is evident from the fact that ;; they delighted them
selves in the court held against Mr. Udal."2 In
other words, they chuckled over the successful re
sult of their own legal ingenuity. To suppose that
they purposed a judicial murder would be mon
strous. To suppose that they thought him guilty
of felony under the Statute would be silly. But
to suppose that they meant to scare him and the
whole Puritan family, by putting about his neck
a rope, to be removed seasonably upon certain con
ditions, accords with their whole proceedings. For
this they labored from the very opening of the
1 Puckering to Udal ; Howell, I. * Strype's Annals, VH. 38.
1294. Hargrave, L 178.

Ch. XH.] PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. 443
prosecution ; and though they rejoiced in their
success with the jury, they continued to delay ex
ecution, and to invent means to avert it. The
moral impression at which they aimed was sup
posed to be secured by the verdict. Further, they
did not wish to go. Otherwise — in accordance
with the custom of the day in cases of felony —
Mr. Udal's execution would have followed swiftly
upon the heels of his sentence. Yet the judges
were guilty of his death ; as truly guilty as if he
had swung from the gibbet. Dying as he did at
their hands in prison, he was as truly executed by
them.1 The queen herself seems to have been
more directly responsible for the death of this
man. Lord Burleigh, the Earl of Essex, Sir Walter
Raleigh, the merchants of London, interceded again
and again for his pardon. The Lord Keeper Puck
ering (the very man who pronounced his sen
tence) and the Archbishop (who for long time
would show him no favor), if they kept their
promise, also sued to her Majesty for the same.
What, then, was in the way of his liberty and life,
but her own resolution to ¦- root out Puritanism " ?
The cases with which we have occupied this chap
ter have intrinsic interest. But they are also of
no small historical importance ; for they give us a
clear view of that mockery of justice which then
obtained in all prosecutions, civil or criminal, in
' Is it possible that this is what wards (p. 233) as having been exe-
Fuller intended to say covertly when, cuted ? Such a sly meaning would
after having stated that Mr. Udal certainly be characteristic of the
died in prison broken-hearted (Book writer.
IX. p. 222), he speaks of him after-

444 PURITANS IN THE SECULAR COURTS. [Ch. XH
which the prerogative or the policy of the crown
might be implicated. Verdicts were pre-determined
and coerced. Cases were prejudged. However much
the forms of law and a due course of justice may
have prevailed in ordinary suits, defeat and dis
grace were sure for the Puritan appellant, though
the righteousness of his cause were never so clear;
and for the Puritan defendant, though neither law
nor testimony were against him.

CHAPTEE XIII.
HENRY BARROW.
A London Rake. — His Reformation. — The Tenets of the Indepen
dents. — Their Differences and Affinities with the Puritans proper.
— The Independents without Organization and without a Leader.
— Their Condition in Society, and their Characteristics. — Henry
Barrow their Master-Spirit. — Master Fox's Ordinary in Nicholas
Lane — Conference there between Mr Barrow and Mr. Hull about
the Imprisonment of John Greenwood. — They visit Greenwood in the
Clink. — Barrow detained there a Prisoner — Taken before the
Archbishop and other Commissioners. — He is committed to the Gate
house. — His second Interview with the Commissioners. — Before a
special Commission, in Company with Greenwood. — Their Objections
to judicial Oaths. — Their ingenuous Boldness. — They are enlarged.
—Again arrested. — Mr. Barrow's Examination.
1586-1588.
There was a young man in London, a member
of the honorable society of Gray's Inn, a barrister
"accomplished with strong parts," and conspicuous
for his high spirit and gallantry among those who
frequented the royal Court.1 He was of a good
family, the son of a gentleman of Norfolk, and had
proceeded Bachelor of Arts at Cambridge in the
year 1569, — probably at about twenty years of age.
Soon after his initiation at Gray's Inn, he became
noted among his fellows for his dashing, reckless
spirit, and for the fiery zeal and boldness with
which he entered upon any enterprise, whether of
study, prowess, or amusement, which took his fancy,
1 Harleian Miscellany, IV. 329, 334.

446 HENRY BARROW. [Cn. XIH
— peculiarities which fitted him to be a leader rather
than a follower of others. He was equally noted
as "a man about town," for he had lived at the
ordinaries of London, was remarkable for his cour
teous but impulsive manners, his genial spirit, his
powers of conversation, and his conviviality. He
was also foremost among the roistering blades of
the city as a dicer and a libertine. Much given to
deep play by day and to dalliance by night, he was
at the same time unblushing in his whole course;
boasting as he swept the stakes, — which he often
did, — " Vivo de die in spem noctis." 1 Such for several
several years was the riotous and shameful life of
Henry Barrow, Gentleman. " If he had lived and
died in that condition, it is like he might have
gone out of the world without any public brand
upon his name, and have passed for a tolerable
Christian and member of the Church."2 Such was
the reputed standard of practical Christianity with
the dominant party in the Church ! But a strong
hand was laid upon him, and suddenly.
Some, time in the year 1583, or perhaps in the
year 1584,3 he was sauntering along the streets, on
a Lord's day, with a boon companion, whose languid
1 Hanbury, I. 35, note. Lord * I find no date assigned to this
Bacon, as quoted by Hanbury, I. occurrence. But I conjecture, for
35. Wood's Athenae, I. 598, note 7. reasons which I need not state, that
Governor Bradford's " Dialogue " ; I am very nearly right. Nor do
in Morton's " New England's Me- I find any satisfactory means of
morial," pp. 338, 340, 341 (Boston, ascertaining Mr. Barrow's age ; but,
1855; edition of the Congregational upon the supposition that he was
Board of Publication). In future I twenty years old when admitted
shall refer to this document by sim- Bachelor of Arts, he must have
ply noting the pages of this edition lived at this time thirty-four or
of Morton. thirty-five years.
2 Morton, 339.

Ch. XIH.] HENRY BARROW. 447
eye and shuffling step told of a night's debauch.
Barrow, with a naturally strong constitution, not yet
shaken by his excesses, was in a merry mood, and
had been bantering his dejected friend. But when
he found him irritated by his words, he gayly said,
" Cheer up, cheer up, Sutton ! A pottle of mellow
sack will cure thee. Then we will be ripe and
fresh for another bout."
"I tell thee, I be sick of such madcap ways.
They muddle the brain ; they deflour manhood ;
they steal self-respect. In fine, they be a band of
thieves and robbers ; and he is but a fool who put-
teth himself in their hand, only to be tickled for
an hour, and then be rifled of all but an enfeebled
mind, an enfeebled body, and accursing shame. Look
there, Barrow," — holding out his tremulous hands,
— "these doings devour bone and marrow! I 'm
weaker than a puling child ! A murrain on all
such courses ! "
" Hast taken orders, Sutton ? My faith ! an thou
wilt always preach so well, so movingly, and carry
thyself with such right valiant eloquence, I will go
to thy parish church."
"An it be preaching, it is fit, on a Sunday,"
said Sutton, sullenly.
¦¦ Street preaching ! Zounds ! it be as fit and as
seditious as a conventicle. An I should but tattle
of thy behavior to my Lord of London, I should
find thee in limbo to-morrow."
" A truce with nonsense ! "
" Amen ; leave it and hear my sense. This be
but a fit on thee, man; a passing fit. When I
was of your years — "

448 HENRY BARROW. [Ch. XHl
" What ! so ? " extending his hands again.
" Belike in less degree. But I always found my
cure. You 're but a novice, Sutton."
'•' A cure ! and what ? "
" I 've told thee, man. More of the same, or of
the like. A bumper or two will make thee a man
again."' For a moment the young man hesitated. Then,
forgetting the self-reproach and the penitent reso
lution he had but just expressed, he exclaimed,
" So be it ! Anything for a spark of manhood." A
few steps farther brought them in front of a church
whence the voice of an earnest preacher was heard.
'•' Hold ! " said Barrow, -¦ let us go in."
" Tush ! shall we go to hear a man talk ? "
" Yes, this man ; for he is in earnest. Your read
ers and your humdrum preachers, who care not a
groat for souls, but only to say their lessons and
get their dinners, I eschew them. But here now
be a man — you may know it by his tones — who
hath a better purpose, and who feeleth what he
saith. Whatever a man doeth or talketh, I like
him an he be in earnest ; for the which I did
like thy sermon just now, and for which I shall
like his."
After some expostulation, Sutton went away,
muttering some profane words about "such a mad
freak," but Barrow entered and sat down. The
preacher was earnest about " righteousness, temper
ance, and the judgment to come." He was "vehe
ment in reproving sin, and sharply applied the judg
ments of God to the same." The sermon and its
fervid deliverv befitted the entire character of the

Ch. XIII] HENRY BARROW. 449
new-comer, and absorbed his attention to the end.
At the close of the service he walked hurriedly to
his rooms. The truth had entered his soul like a
barbed arrow, and he passed many sleepless hours
of solitude in all the misery of remorse. From day
to day the wound rankled, until the suffering was
past endurance, and the proud profligate crossed his
threshold to seek private counsel of godly men.
Then he resorted to the preaching of the Word ;
he read it ; he studied it. At length he came to a
perception of grace, free and boundless, through a
crucified Eedeemer, clung exultingly to it, appro
priated the Gospel with its soothing words and
heavenly promise, and imbibed that " peace of God
which passeth all understanding." Henry Barrow
was a new man. For a long time he secluded
himself, — now in the country, now in the city, —
as earnest and as much engrossed in studying "the
unsearchable riches of Christ " as he had been in
drinking at the fountains of licentious indulgence.
It was soon bruited among his old consorts at Court
and about the city that " Barrow had turned Pu
ritan ! " 1
Of the ecclesiastical theory of "The Indepen
dents," — or, as they had been unjustly nicknamed,
" The Brownists," 2 — we have before given a brief
1 Morton, 341. disciples and other Christians did
* Ibid., 329. Judas's treachery." (Ibid., 337.)
" They can no more justly be " If any be justly to be called
called Brownists, than the disciples Brownists, it is only such as revolt
might have been called Judasites; from Separation to formality and
for they did as much abhor Brown's from thence to profaneness. (Ibid.,
apostasy and profane course as the 348 ; Cotton to Baylie.)
vol. m. 57

450 HENRY BARROW. [Ch. XIII.
account. Their reasons for separation from the
Established Church we have also stated.1 But be
fore pursuing the thread of our narrative, it is
fitting that we should speak of their tenets more
explicitly. Their estimate of the National Church we have
but partially unfolded. It was simply this : That,
being constituted by the edict of the prince, and
not by voluntary covenant, and thus embracing
promiscuously all in the land, — the undevout and
the unbeliever, the profane and the licentious, —
and being also under the hierarchal government of
archbishops and their subordinates, the National
Church differed from the primitive pattern of the
Gospel, and was not allowable by it. Still they
allowed that there were some parish assemblies
which were true churches, by virtue of an implicit,
though not formal, covenant amongst themselves ;
and that, so far as these were embraced in it, the
National Church might be held and called a true
church, notwithstanding its form of government.2
For these reasons, until about the beginning of
the seventeenth century, the Independents, " out of
some mistake and heat of zeal, forbore communion
in laivful things with other godly persons," as "in
prayer and hearing of the Word." But this soon
came to be disliked and openly disapproved.3
It was this point of utter separation, chiefly,
upon which arose the bitter controversy between
the Puritans proper and the Independents. Yet
there was an underlying affinity between them, not
1 Ante, Vol. II. pp. 302 - 315. 8 Morton, 329.
* Ibid., pp. 307, 308. Morton, 328.

Cn. XIII] HENRY BARROW. 451
in the least degree indicated in their polemic pam
phlets ; and not only an affinity of spirit, but, to a
large extent, a coincidence of opinion upon the form
of church government. This large, this liberal one
ness, hidden for a time by circumstances, soon de
veloped itself; for many who most sharply opposed
the Independents avowed that in their hearts they
preferred the polity of the latter, and that they
would adopt it "if they might come to be from
under the bishops and live in a place of peace and
rest where they might comfortably subsist."1 In
deed, the Puritans soon came to call the Indepen
dents " our dear brethren of the Separation." 2
There was a practical tenet held by the Indepen
dents, which perhaps was suggested by the many
years of their unorganized condition, and which was
thought then, as it is now by some, to be an un
warrantable innovation. It was maintained by them,
as consistent with Christian order and decorum, that
even such as had no office in their churches, if they
had sufficient " gifts," might upon occasion, by ex
pounding the Scriptures and exhortation, " edify the
church " — congregation — " publicly and openly." 8
Yet there was a limit to this liberty, — that such
persons " should first be allowed by the judgment of
ministers and others." 4
' Robinson, as quoted by Brad- Bishop of Ciesarea, that laymen did
ford; in Morton, 333. teach in open assemblies in pres-
' Heylin's Presb., Book IX. Sec. enco of bishops, and that they were
80. exhorted to do so by the bishops
' Morton, 331. themselves. He also refers to the
4 Ibid., 332. fact, that in the Jewish synagogues,
Bradford justifies this practice by not only the Levites, but any in
citing from Eusebius the testimony Israel, might expound the law, if
of tho Bishop of Jerusalem and the capable of doing so, and if permitted

452

HENRY BARROW.

[Cn. xm.

While the Puritans sought that Presbytery should
be established by law, that its government should be
enforced by the civil arm, and that the patrimony
of the Church should be converted to the support
of their clergy,1 the Independents — true to a sec
ondary sense of their name — neither asked for an
establishment, nor for the interference of the civil
authority in the enforcement of their discipline, nor
for any funded means of supporting the institutions
of religion ; but " would that all livings should be
returned to the Commonwealth whence they were
taken," and that their clergy should be sustained
by the voluntary contributions of the people.2 They
asked but one favor of the civil magistrate, — to be
let alone, that they might worship God in peace
and according to the dictates of their own con

sciences:

3

by the master of the synagogue.
He then adds, " If any out of weak
ness have abused at any time their
liberty, it is their personal faulting,
as sometimes weak ministers may
their office, and yet the ordinance
good and lawful." (Morton, 331,
332.) 1 Hicks, 262.
2 Waddington's MS. ; from a
paper of the day. Waddington's
Penry, 32. Harleian Miscellany,
IV. 337 ; Barrow to Burleigh.
8 There was a Protestant church
in Queen Mary's day, and there are
reasons to suppose that it was or
ganized upon the plan of Indepen
dency. {Ante, Vol. I. p. 127, and
references.) But it was quickly
scattered by deadly persecution.
I have also mentioned (Vol. I.
Chap. XH.) the first movement

towards Independency in Queen
Elizabeth's day, in the year 1567.
It seems that another Independent
church was formed about the year
1570, — a fact which I have over
looked, — " whereof Mr. Fitz was
pastor." (Morton, 347.) Dr. Wad-
dington gives us further information
of this church (MS.), and presents
us with what seems to have been
in some sort a Confession of their
Faith. He tells us also that they
still associated for purposes of wor
ship and discipline, after the death
of their pastor in prison in the year
1571. These are the only attempts
at Church organization upon the In
dependent or Congregational plan
which I find recorded from the time
of Edward VI. to the time of which
I am now writing.

Ch. XIH.] HENRY BARROW. 455
When Mr. Barrow " made a leap from a vain and
libertine youth to preciseness in the highest de
gree,"1 the Independents were like sheep without
a shepherd, not only in and about London, but in
the South of England,2 and in the counties of Essex
and Norfolk.8 Scattered here and there, they had
not a single organized church, no ministration of
the sacraments, no ministers, no one man of such
mould of character as to command their united
deference, to inspire their courage, or to stimulate
their progress.4 They were unpretending and un
educated plebeians;6 unaspiring men; mostly small
tradesmen, mechanics, and artificers ; — the very class
of men most apt to look at things through a nat
ural medium, unobscured by artificial mists.6 But
they were men of sturdy, unsophisticated minds,
accustomed in all affairs to that self-reliance with
out self-conceit which is characteristic of the truest
manhood. Far inferior to most of the Puritans in
social position and in education, they were unlike
them — but superior — in being free from the tram
mels of the schools. They had no acquaintance
with the writings of the ancient Fathers, and there
fore from that source no perplexities ; puzzled not
themselves with the traditions of the elders ; but
in all questions of religion came, with childlike
simplicity and prayer, only to the Oracles of God,
and asking only, What saith the Lord? Thence,
in the exercise only of that plain and sound com-
1 Lord Bacon ; Hanbury, I. 85. meaning of Lord Bacon's words,
* Waddington's Pcnry, 82. " very silly and base " ; Hanbury,
* Neal, I. 198. I. 35.
4 Waddington's Penry, 85, 89. • Waddington's Pcnry, 89. Ante,
• Which I conceive to be the true Vol. II. p. 306.

454 HENRY BARROW. [Ch. XHL
mon-sense and humble spirit which God had given
them, and upon which they were accustomed to
rely in the ordinary business of life, they drew
all their religious opinions, whether of doctrine, of
discipline, of worship, or of practical morality. They
recognized no religious ties but to their Master
and to his disciples. Hence it came to pass, by
natural consequence, that they fell upon the sim
plest forms of worship, seized upon the simplest
idea of a church, as a congregation of covenanting
brethren, and adopted a mode of discipline in har
mony with that idea.
We return to our narrative. From the time
when Mr. Barrow retired from the scenes and sins
of his former life we have no trace of his move
ments for three or four years. But we know in
general, that he associated himself with the de
spised Independents. By his fiery zeal, his intrepid
Spirit, his strong and self-relying mind, his edu
cation, and his previous indifference to all eccle
siastical questions, he was peculiarly fitted to be a
guiding and quickening spirit to the scattered and
depressed Christians with whom he cast his lot.
Therefore, it may be, the Lord chose him and
sent him to these weak ones, and " stirred him up
for special reformation,"1 — his very blemishes con
tributing to the more vigorous execution of his
task. Such a guide and quickener he proved to
be. Eoused by his energy and boldness, the num
bers of the despised ones increased, and their secret
assemblies were more frequent So well was all
1 Morton, 358.

Ch. XTH.] HENRY BARROW. 455
this known to the Commissioners, that Mr. Barrow
was soon on their proscribed list, a special object
of their indignation. •- For a long time," one of
their pursuivants was baffled in hunting him up.1
His prominence among his brethren and his com
manding influence soon became generally known.
Hence they received a new popular cognomen, —
"The Barrowists."2
In Nicholas Lane in London (now 80 King Wil
liam Street) stood a public house, above the medium
rank, which for many years had been a favorite
with citizens and travellers who loved a quiet and
orderly retreat. Over the entrance of its court
yard was inscribed, in large letters, " Fox his Or-
dinarie." 8 Master Fox, whether at this time one
of the Separatists or not, had a partiality for them,
gave them the preference as his guests, rendered
them various services in other ways, and even risked
his estate by providing them with a suitable apart
ment for their worshipping assemblies.
On the morning of Sunday, the nineteenth day
of November, in the year 1586/ a private apart-

1 Harleian Miscellany, IV. 327. From respect to this authority, Mr.
Brook, II. 25, note. Hanbury (I. 35) doubts between
* Strype's Whitgift, 417. D'Ewes, 1586 and 1587, and signifies his
517. leaning towards the latter date.
1 Just one hundred years after- But I unhesitatingly adopt in the
wards the inscription read, " Foxe's text the earlier date ; first, because
Ordinary, rebuilt 1686." It was we have it in the prefix of Barrow
etill standing in 1834. (Hanbury, himself to his own narrative (Harl.
I. 87.) Misc., IV. 327) ; and secondly, be-
4 Sir George Paule (Sec. 66), cause a comparison of this date
who was Comptroller of the Arch- with the dates of subsequent events
bishop's household, says that the shows that " 1586 " in Barrow's
incidents which I am about to nar- prefix must be correct, i. e. is not
rate occurred in November, 1587. a typographical error.

456 HENRY BARROW. [Ch. XD1
ment of this house was occupied by two gentle
men, — Henry Barrow and  Hull. The latter
sat before a small fire, in a pensive mood ; but Mr.
Barrow was pacing the room, his arms rigidly
folded across his breast, his lips compressed, and his
countenance now shaded with deep grief, now flushed
with indignation. Occasionally might be seen there
a look almost defiant. He was chafing under strong
emotions, which he was striving to control. His
firm yet nervous tread, his erect port, his tall, mus
cular frame, his flashing eye, indicated that, unless
he did control his spirit, it might be dangerous to
meddle with him. Suddenly he stopped before his
companion, and said, in a slow whisper, as if con
scious that he must keep a bridle upon his very
voice. " Mr. Hull — : how long — has John Greenwood
— been — in prison?"
" I do not know. It was told me last Tuesday
sennisrht." '¦' Tush, brother ! Why dost not say, - the first
day,' ' the second day,' - the third day,' as God
himself named all the days V1 Then, walking
away again, he muttered, " Thornley said nothing
of Greenwood."
" Thornley ! " said Mr. Hull, bestirring himself,
"what Thornley?"
" Thornley of Norwich."
" One of the straitest of the Pharisees. What
hadst thou to do with him?"
"We happened to meet at an hostlery at Ware
as I rode hither, and we had communication
there."
1 Harleian Miscellany, IV. 335.

Ch. XIH.] HENRY BARROW. 457
" Happened to meet ! Com-mu-ni-cation ! Of what
sort?" " We spake of some Puritans and of some of our
brethren in prison. .But he did not mention our
brother Greenwood."
'- Happened to meet ! Humph ! Didst converse of
controversial matters of religion ? Didst speak to
Mm of thine own dislikes of this and that in the
religion established by law ? " Mr. Hull spoke
nervously. -- We did touch upon religious affairs — "
"Touch! Well; and — ?"
-' Albeit of nothing — if I misremember not —
of nothing controversial, saving I did affirm elders
to be bishqps."1
-- Saving thou didst affirm that ! When will Henry
Barrow learn to hold his tongue ! " exclaimed Mr.
Hull, now fairly aroused, and starting to his feet.
"When will Henry Barrow learn that there is a
time to keep silence as well as a time to speak ?
God forbid thou shouldst fail to bear testimony
to the truth whenever and wherever there be
occasion. But why brast forth in an ordinary, and
to a known enemy of our persuasion, that for which
you had no occasion, — that which could only work
to your own harm ? Didst tell him you were
coming to London ? "
"Nay. But when I mounted my horse, he saw
me take the London road."
"An he had had a swift courier at command,
thy coming would have been known at Lambeth
before thine arrival. Barrow, Barrow ! thou hast
1 Harleian Miscellany, IV. 331.
VOL. in. 58

458 HENRY BARROW. [Ch. XIH
done a foolish thing. That man be a spy and
spiteful informer. And now thou wouldst go to
comfort our poor brother Greenwood, and our other
poor brethren, in the Clink! Harry, thou shalt
not ! "
It was like a child saying to the cataract, "Thou
shalt not"; or to the eternal sea.
" What of Greenwood's wife and son ? " The lat
ter was about eighteen months of age.1
" I know not where they be. Belike the Lord
Eich w*ill provide for them."
" I must know, Mr. Hull. I shall go to the Clink
prison. I trill see my brethren in affliction. I will
comfort them." He then added, drawing his im
posing frame to its utmost stature, "Shall. the Judge
say to Harry Barrow in that day, -I was in prison
and thou visitedst me not ' ? "
"But, Mr. Barrow, I wish — "
"I go."
"Then I go with thee."
" Welcome."
It was about nine of the clock when the two
friends passed out into the court-yard. It may
have been partly from prudence that Mr. Barrow
drew the folds of his ample cloak so closely about
him as almost to conceal his features, but there
certainly was another reason ; for while here — as
we are now writing — the month of November is
distinguished during much of its term above all
the months of the year for its bland air, its clear,
blue sky, and its mild but glorious sunshine, an
English November is
1 Harleian Miscellany, IV. 339.

Ch. XH1.] HENRY BARROW. 459
" No sun, — no moon, —
No morn, — no noon, —
No dawn, — no dusk, — no proper time of day, —
No sky, — no earthly view, —
No distance looking blue, —

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, —
No comfortable feel in any member." '
Passing over the only bridge which then spanned
the Thames, Barrow and Hull arrived at the Clink
prison in Southwark before ten of the clock, where
they were freely admitted by the underling keepers.2
It was an affecting interview, — Mr. Greenwood
overjoyed at embracing his brethren ; Mr. Barrow's
large heart overflowing towards his imprisoned
friend ; Mr. Hull weeping like a child as he wit
nessed their demonstrations of Christian love. They
had exchanged but a few words of greeting and
inquiry, — during less than fifteen minutes, — when
Mr. Shepherd, the keeper of the prison, came up
to the apartment, with many words of rebuke to
his poor prisoner for presuming to receive friends
without first applying for his permission. He then
said, "As for you, Mr. Barrow, I am most happy
to see you. You are my prisoner."
" How so ? "
"I have commandment from his lord's Grace to
stay you in custody."
" Your warrant ! " demanded Mr. Barrow, stand
ing erect and extending his hand to receive it,
with a look and tone beneath which for a moment
the keeper cringed.
"My — my orders be peremptory. I shall lock
1 Thomas Hood. * Harleian Miscellany, IV. 327

460 HENRY BARROW. [Ch. XHI
you up. If you be wronged, you can bring your
action afterwards."
He did lock him up ; and Mr. Hull, muttering,
" I told him so," betook himself, with a heavy heart,
to London, to tell the brethren that one more of
their number, and him upon whom they most re
lied, was in the clutches of the High Commission.
Mr. Shepherd took a barge, — the prison was at
the river's brink, — and rowed to Lambeth palace,
to inform his '¦' lord's Grace " of his new capture.
About one of the clock, he returned with two
pursuivants, and took Mr. Barrow in the boat to
Lambeth. On the way, one of the pursuivants,
Watson, presented a folded paper, saying, " Mr. Bar
row, here is a letter for you from the court at
Lambeth. I am rejoiced to see you, for I have
sought you a long time."
" Your pains deserve thanks neither at God's
hands nor mine. I will neither read nor receive
your letter. Nor will I obey it or you ; for I am
now under arrest of Mr. Shepherd, here by my
side." Arrived at Lambeth, Mr. Barrow was detained
in an anteroom until Watson had had an inter
view with the Archbishop, to whom he related the
conversation in the boat. He was then conducted
into the presence-chamber, where were the Arch
bishop, the Archdeacon Mullins, and Dr. Cosins,
constituting a quorum of the High Commission.
" Is your name Barrow ? " inquired the Arch
bishop. " Yea."
" It is told me that you refuse to receive or obey

Ch. XHL] HENRY BARROW. 461
our letter. Know you what you do ? It is from the
High Commissioners, and this man is pursuivant.''
"I did refuse to receive or obey that letter."
"Why?"" Because I was under arrest and imprisoned with
out warrant and against law. Therefore it was too
late to bring the letter."
" Why ! may not a Councillor commit to prison
by his bare commandment ? "
" That is not the question ; but whether this man,
the keeper of the Clink, may do it without war
rant, by the law of the land."
" Know you the law of the land ? "
"Very little. Yet was I of Gray's Inn some
years." Whereupon they all made sport of his
little knowledge of law.
" I pray you," said Mr. Barrow, when their merri
ment had subsided, " why have you imprisoned
me, and after this manner sent for me ? "
" That you shall know upon your oath," said
the Archbishop. " Will you swear ? "
Hereupon, a long dialogue ensued about taking
the oath required ; but Mr. Barrow declared that
he would take no oath to accuse himself.
"Well," said his Grace, "can you find sufficient
surety for your good behavior?"
"Yea, as sufficient as you can take."
"But know you what bond you should enter?
You are bound hereby to frequent our churches."
" I understand you, of my good behavior."
"And in it is this contained."
" Well ; now I know your mind, I will enter no
such bond."

462 HENRY BARROW. [Ch. XHL
" Will you enter bond to appear on Tuesday
ne±t at our Court, and so on Thursday, if you be
not called ; and be bound not to depart until you
be dismissed by order of our Court ? "
" No."
" Then I will send you to prison."
Mr. Barrow was then delivered to the pursui
vant, and taken to the Gate-house, without being
informed of the cause of his imprisonment.1
Eight days afterwards, he was again called before
the Commissioners ; when the Archbishop again de
manded whether he would now swear.
" I must first know to what."
'- So you shall afterward."
" I will not swear, unless I know before."
" Well, I will thus far satisfy your humor."
A Paper was then read, by which, for the first
time, Mr. Barrow was made acquainted with the
charges against him. The substance of the whok>
was, " that he held the Church of England to be
not a true Church." This opinion, the Paper al
leged, he sustained by the following reasons : " That
the worship of the English Church is idolatry ; that
its ministry is Antichristian ; that its preachers
are hirelings, and have no Scriptural calling ; and
that unsanctified persons are admitted to its com
munion."2 After the reading of this Paper, the
Archbishop resumed. " Now you know what you
shall swear unto. How say you, will you swear
or no?"
1 Harleian Miscellany, TV. 327- compared with Harleian Miscellany,
330. IV. 330.
2 Paule's Whitgift, Sees. 66 67,

Ch. XIH | HENRY BARROW. 463
""An oath requireth great consideration. But I
will give you a true answer. Much of the mat
ter of this bill is true, but the form is false."
" Go to, sirrah ! Answer directly, will you
swear ? "
"There is more cause to swear mine accuser. I
will not swear."
"Where is his keeper? You shall not' prattle
here. Away with him. Clap him up close, — close.
Let no man come at him. I will make him tell
another tale ere I have done with him."1
Four months afterwards — March. 24th, 1586-7
— Mr. Barrow was brought before -- certain Com
missioners thereunto especially appointed by her Ma
jesty." Again he refused to swear ; whereupon his
Grace so far yielded as to say, "A Christian
man's word ought to be as true as his oath. We
will therefore proceed with you without yotir
oath." A series of written questions — all of which con
cerned only his opinions — were then propounded
to him, to which he gave the following answers.
"That the Lord's prayer was intended as a pattern
only, not as a prescript form : That it is not right
to impose any form of liturgy upon the Church :
That the Book of Common Prayer, and most of
the worship therein, is wellnigh idolatrous, super
stitious, and Popish : That the sacraments, as minis
tered in the public assemblies, are not true sacra
ments : That the parish assemblies, as they stand'
generally, are not the true established churches
of Christ : That the government established over
1 Harleian Miscellany, IV. 331.

464 HENRY BARROW. [Ch. XHL
them hath no warrant from the Word of God, but
is Antichristian : That such as have been baptized
therein according to the order therein established,
have not been rightly baptized according to the
institution of Christ ; but yet they need not and
ought not to be baptized again : That the queen
is supreme governor over the whole land, and over
the Church also, both bodies and goods ; yet no
prince, nor the Church itself, nor the whole world,
may impose any laws upon the Church other than
Christ hath left in his Testament : That sundry
of the laws, decrees, and canons of the Established
Church, and its ecclesiastical courts and governors,
are unlawful and Antichristian : That the judicial
law of Moses — excepting its ceremonial parts —
cannot be abrogated : That the judgments set down
for the transgression of the moral law may not be
changed : That no private persons may reform the
State without consent of the prince : That the
holy government of the Church cannot without
sacrilege be set over these parishes as they now
stand, no difference made betwixt the faithful and
the unbebeving ; but over every particular con
gregation of Christ there ought to be an elder
ship : That the Church may, and ought to, reform
abuses therein, whatsoever the prince may order:
That if the prince do sin and obstinately persist
therein, the Church should so adjudge, and the
pastor pronounce, excommunication."1
Mr. John Greenwood had been assistant chaplain
to Mr. Eobert Wright, about the year 1581, in the
1 Harleian Miscellany, IV. 332- 170 ; by the Camden Society, Lon-
334. " The Egerton Papers," 167- don, 1840.

Ch. XIII] HENRY BARROW. 465
family of Lord Eich,1 whom we have had occasion
to mention.2 He had abjured his episcopal ordina
tion, and therefore no longer considered himself a
clergyman.3 After having remained " long close pris
oner " in the Clink, he was brought before the same
special Commission which we have mentioned, and
apparently on the same day — March 24th, 1587 —
when Mr. Barrow appeared before them. This Com
mission sat at London House, the palace of the
Bishop of London.4 His examination was of the
same general character as that of Mr. Barrow ; com
prising like questions and like answers.6
In the refusal of these men to swear before the
Commissioners we do not discover any "conscien
tious objections to judiciary oaths " generally, nor
any analogy between them or their confriers to
"the Society of Friends."6 These have ever ob
jected to all oaths ; the others did not.7 Both Mr.
Barrow and Mr. Greenwood admitted, in express
words, the propriety of judiciary oaths, when made
in the name of God simply, — i. e. by not joining
a creature, a book, for example, to the name of God,
— by holding up the hand toward heaven and swear
ing, when the occasion was of sufficient gravity,
when the matters to be sworn to were 'first made
known, when the oath was not urged upon com-
1 Strype's Annals, V. 179. examined Mr. Barrow on the 24th
2 Ante, Vol. II. pp. 237-249. day of March. (Harl. Misc., IV.
* Harleian Miscellany, IV. 338. 331 and 338 compared.)
Strype's Annals, V. 179. ' Harleian Miscellany, IV. 338-
' Hanbury, I. 62. Brook II. 30. 340.
I infer this date from the fact ° As Mr. Hanbury apparently
that tho persons who sat in Com- does, I. 86.
mission and examined Mr. Green- ' Ibid., 85, 86. Strype's Annals,
wood wero the same as those who VI. 1 1 7.
VOL. III. 59

466 HENRY BARROW. [Cu XHI.
pulsion,1 and when it did not expose them to self-
crimination.2 On the other hand, in the record of
their examinations we discover what interests us
much more, — the intrepid coolness with which they
met demands contrary to their consciences, and their
readiness to avow — without reserve, coloring, or
apology — their most secret and most obnoxious
opinions, when interrogated upon their simple word
by a tribunal so despotic. Frankly to maintain the
simple but grand principles of Independency, — so
startling and strange in that day, — which struck
at the very root of a haughty, sensitive, and irri
tated Establishment, holding in its right hand the
sword of state, which also, and in God's name,
barred the authority of the prince from the affairs
of the Church, and placed him beside the humblest
peasant there, and equally amenable to the laws of
Christ, — to avow such principles before such a
court, and under such a queen, was an act of con
scientious courage which commands our admiration.
It was not hare-brained audacity. Only men of true
moral greatness could have done it. It was Chris
tian magnanimity, — heroism.
Mr. Barrow and Mr. Greenwood remained in
prison until May, 1587,3 when they were " enlarged
upon bonds."4 They now devoted themselves to the
1 Compare the language of Peter Lord-Chancellor Hatton.) Half a
Wentworth on this point, ante, Vol. year from November 19th, 1586.
II. p. 35. (Harl. Misc., IV. 330.)
2 Harleian Miscellany, IV. 327- * Paule's Whitgift, Sec. 67.
338, passim ; Examinations of Bar- Sir George Paule says that
row and Greenwood. their liberation was because they
* Harleian Miscellany, IV. 336. had "made show of conformity,"
" Half a year close prisoner in which we may reasonably doubt.
the Gate-house." (Barrow to the But Collier is certainly in error,

Ch. XIH] HENRY BARROW. 467
mission of strengthening their brethren of the Sep
aration, and of being strengthened by their Chris
tian fellowship ; going from house to house, reading
the Scriptures, speaking and hearing words of ex
hortation and encouragement, and bowing with
others in prayer. They were thus engaged in the
house of a friend, one Lord's day in the latter part
of August, a little more than three months after
their liberation. The Word of God was opened be
fore them, and Mr. Greenwood was reading. Four
others of the brethren were present, — John Clerke,
a husbandman,1 Henry Thompson, George Collier,
and John Chamber, — and three aged widows, —
Maynard, Eoe, and Barrow.2 In the midst of this
devout service, — described as " bursting forth into
further extremities,"3 — the sheriff of London4
broke in upon them with his officers, and the whole
company were hurried off to prison, — the three
widows to Newgate, Clerke to Bridewell to grind
in the mill, the others to the Clink.5 After remain
ing thirty weeks in the Clink, Barrow and Green
wood were transferred to the Fleet,0 where they
were kept "clapped up close." On the eighteenth
day of March, 1587-8, Mr. Barrow was hurriedly
taken to Whitehall before the Lord Chancellor
Hatton, the Lord Treasurer Burleigh, the Arch
bishop of Canterbury, and others.7 Here, upon his
and I fear culpably, when ho says he expressly mentions as being
(Vol. VII. 167) "they promised lo there.
recant." ' Paule's AVhitgift, Sec. 67.
1 Waddington's Penry, 100. * Waddington's Penry, 101.
2 Brook, II. 89 ; who, in the same 5 Ibid. Brook, H 38, 39.
connection, gives tho names of * Brook, II. 38.
others, who may havo been pres- ' In his account of this, (Harl.
ent. I mention only those whom Misc., IV. 334,) Barrow does not

468 HENRY BARROW. [Ch. XIH
knees, he was subjected to another tedious exami
nation (chiefly upon controverted points), which it
is unnecessary to describe. The Lord Treasurer en
tered freely into the examination, but treated Mr.
Barrow with great mildness, although declaring that
he thought him " a fantastical fellow." It being
observed that he did not pay such reverence to the
Archbishop and the Bishop of London as to the
temporal lords," x the Lord Chancellor, at the close
of the examination, asked him if he did not know
those two, — pointing to them.
"Yes, my lord, I have cause to know them."
"Well, is not this the Bishop of London?"
" I know him for no bishop, my lord."
" What is he, then ? "
"His name is Aylmer, my lord." ("The Lord
pardon my fault," exclaims Barrow in his narrative,
" that I laid him not open for a wolf, a bloody per
secutor, and an apostate ! ")
" What is that man ? " asked Hatton, pointing to
the Archbishop.
give the year ; only "the 18 day so in fixing the date of this second
of the third month," i. e. March, arrest of Mr. Barrow and Mr.
But this date and the narrative Greenwood ; for I do not find it
which follows it occur after his" stated anywhere. From the time
narrative of the twenty-fourth of of this arrest they were kept in the
March. From this fact, and from Clink thirty weeks, as stated in the
the fact that in 1586 and in 1587 — text. Supposing them to have been
with the exception of a few hours in the Fleet two weeks before Mr.
in the Clink — he had been con- Barrow was summoned to White-
fined only in the Gate-house, I hall, this would have been thirty-
think it clear that my date in the two weeks. Dating back thirty-two
text is correct. weeks from March 18th, we arrive
I am often obliged to make cal- at the close of August, the date
culations for dates by comparing which I have assigned for their last
isolated statements in different au- arrest.
thorities before me. I have done l Neal. I. 202.

Ch. XIH.] HENRY BARROW. 469
-' A monster ! a miserable compound ! I know
not what to make him. He is neither ecclesiastical
nor civil; even that second beast spoken of in the
Revelation." " Where is that place ? " inquired the Lord Treas
urer. Mr. Barrow began to read Eev. xiii. 11, and
2 Thess. ii. 4 ; when the Archbishop rose, much
excited, and exclaimed, " Will you suffer him, my
lords?" His keeper then took him in charge to
conduct him away ; when he prayed the Lord
Treasurer that he might have the liberty of the
air, but received no answer.1
We have transcribed this episode with sorrow ;
and only because we have no right to throw a
mantle over the misconduct of those whose history
we trace. In this instance, the examinate was cer
tainly foolhardy ; and, so far as we can see, trans
gressed those rules of decorum which are obligatory
upon all, and pre-eminently upon the disciples of
Christ, save in those rare instances where courtesy
cannot consist with public or official duty. " God
shall smite thee, thou whited wall!" said the Apostle
Paul to the High-Priest; but when he understood
that he was the High-Priest, he apologized. We
find, however, that Mr. Barrow, after the moment
when he may have been moved by strong provo
cation, asked pardon of God that he had not been
equally severe upon the Bishop of London. There
may, therefore, have been something in the circum
stances of the case which, if known and appreciated
by us, would cause us to modify our censure. The
1 Harleian Miscellany, IV. 337.

470 HENRY BARROW. [Ch. XHL
severities — we may say, the lawless and heartless
cruelties — of these two prelates, may have been
palliating reasons for such public and defiant words.
Certainly, the same prelates in their own day were
censured by others in high rank and authority;1
and few in these days will question the literal truth
of Mr. Barrow's words, when describing the mon
grel behavior of his Grace of Canterbury.2
We confess that we do not perceive the object
of this examination. Nor do we understand how
it happened that, after Mr. Barrow and Mr. Green
wood had been confined seven months in the Clink,
and thence transferred to the Fleet, and after Mr.
Barrow had been put upon examination, both should
have been arraigned before the High Commission
and recommitted. But so stands the testimony :
•¦ They were again committed to the Fleet, July 20,
1588 ";3 where we leave them for the present,
fellow-prisoners with Mr. Cartwright.4
1 Marsden, 175. by saying (p. 38), " On a return of
* Mr. Hanbury (I. 37), lament- similar atrocities to those of Whit
ing and professing not to palliate gift .... we should not trust our-
this indecorous outburst of Mr. Bar- selves that we could refrain from
row, yet refers, as if to soften it, to Barrow's plainness of speech."
'• the then inconceivable excitement 3 Paule's Whitgift, Sec. 67.
of the times and the unappalled * Birch, I. 62. Strype's Whit-
spirit which oppression itself had gift, 337.
excited " ; and charitably concludes

CHAPTER XIV.
THE INDEPENDENTS.
The Bishops their own Enemies. — Increase of the Independents. —
Their secret Assemblies. — A Church organized in London. — Mid
night Arrest of Greenwood and Johnson. — Fifty-six Persons ar
rested at Islington — Other Arrests. — Privations of Prison Life.
—Prisoners detained without Trial. — Their Complaint. — The Jail-
Fkver. — Flogging with Cudgels — The Torture of "Little Ease."
— Death in Prison. — Chains and Dungeons. — Many die ; some thrust
forth to die. — Who were responsible for these Horrors, and how
far. — The Facts concealed from the Queen. — The Inquisition of
England and the Inquisition of Spain compared.
1588-1593.
"And all to clip the wings of the bishops," wrote
Mr. Strype, when giving an account of bills eccle
siastical introduced to the Parliament of 1584-5.1
As we refer to their own doings from the beginning,
and especially to their dominant influence in the
cases of Mr. Cawdrey and Mr. Udal, we cannot but
echo the words, "And all to clip the wings of the
bishops." Though screened behind bench and jury-
box, it was well known, or at least believed, that
their influence upon the queen guided prosecution,
verdict, and judgment. Thus their apparent success
was unreal. The moral effect of each decision was de
ceptive, — apparently triumphant and stunning, but
really reactive, and in the end terribly retributive.
1 Ante, Vol. II. p. 476.

472 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Cn. XIV,
They had more reason to regret than to exult over
each of these cases, and had they not been blear-
eyed and infatuated, — characteristics of despotism,
— they would have regretted them ; for, as we have
already suggested, the popular indignation had been
roused against the bishops by these doings of the
servile courts, as much as by those of the Commis
sioners in the case of Mr. Cartwright. Thus, with
out being conscious of it, the prelates had already
clipped the tips of their own wings. The truth now
and thus began to be foreshadowed, that " might is
on the side of him who suffers, not of him who tor
ments." x Puritanism was invigorated, when supposed
to have been weakened ; and even Independency
throve under the prelatic frown and the prelatic
finger. The dangling corpses of Thacker and Cop
ping had provoked inquiry into their crime and
murmuring against their executioners. Thus, in
mockery of the burning of their books, their eccle
siastical principles were enstamped in large letters
upon the very posts of their gibbet ; and thus again
these principles, far more consonant with the in
stincts of humanity than those of the Puritans, which
blended Church and State, were imbibed with the
greater rapidity. During a single decade of years —
from 1582 to 1592 — the grain of mustard-seed had
become a sheltering tree ; an insignificant sect had
been multiplied to twenty thousand of Elizabeth's
stoutest subjects, having wives and children.2
All this increase was the result of the simplest
means, — no oratory, no scholarship, no patronage,
no promise or vision of aggrandizement, — only the
1 Marsden, 182. s D'Ewes, 517.

Ch. XIV.] THE INDEPENDENTS. 473
Word of God, devoutly read, devoutly heard, and
welding heart to heart of those to whom it was
ministered. This was a crime in the eye of the
State Church, especially as it involved a forsaking
of the worship and a disowning of the ministry
established.1 Hence those of this " wicked sect," so
called,2 who lived in and about London met in
secret places ; — at Fox's, Ordinary ; in a house in
Oldgate ; in the house of Eoger Eippon in South-
wark ; in Bilson's house in Cree-church, a parish of
St. Katherine's ; 3 in a garden-house at St. George's-
in-the-Fields ; at Islington, also in the immediate
suburbs of the city ; and at Deptford on the Thames,
four miles east of London.4 In the summer they
assembled about five o'clock in the morning of
Lord's day, under cover of the woods which here
and there skirted the city,5 or on some secluded
hill-side. In the colder months they met in houses ;
sometimes in the city ; sometimes in Southwark ;
sometimes in Deptford ; sometimes in houses be
longing to the suburban gardens whence the city
market was supplied.8 They continued together
during the whole day, sometimes joined by persons
not affiliated.7 Except during a short intermission
for dinner, they occupied the time in reading and
expounding the Scriptures, and in extempore prayers,
uttered by some one voice and without responses.
Before dispersing, they made collections ; the surplus
1 Strype's Annals, VI. 104. s Ibid.
' Ibid., 102. « Ibid.
' Stow's Survey, 278. ' Strype's Annals, VII. 244. Han-
4 Hanbury, I. 85. Waddington's bury, I. 85. Brook, II. 45.
Pcnry, 101. Brook, II. 45, 47.
Waddington's MS.
VOL. m. 60

474 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Ch. XIV.
of which, after paying for their frugal meal, was
devoted to the relief of their brethren in prison.1
Such were the religious assemblies of the Inde
pendents, such their modes of worship, and such
their sanctuaries. But they were without the sacra
ments of the Gospel ; for they shunned as corrupt
the ministry and the ordinances of the parish as
semblies, had no church organization of their own,
and no brother set apart by ordination to the office
of the holy ministry.2
One day in September, 1592,3 "a great many
men, with some women," and a few children, were
entering Mr. Fox's Ordinary in Nicholas Lane,4 not
in groups or in close succession, but in a careless
and straggling way, as if happening thither with
out concert, as guests ordinarily come to a public
house.5 By and by they were gathered in a spa
cious room, and were seated as it chanced, preserv
ing a rigid silence. They did not seem gloomy;
they did not seem convivial. Each countenance
was serious, yet expressive of serene contentment.
At the farther end of the apartment was a table,
upon which rested some small vessels covered with
a linen cloth of the purest white. When it be
came certain that their company was complete, one
of them, seated near the table, rose and uttered a
few words of welcome and congratulation. Then
1 Strype's Annals, VI. 103. * " About half a year sithence " ;
2 I do not understand why the Strype's Annals, VII. 245, from the
Independents in and around Lon- deposition of Daniel Buck, given on
don should have continued so long the ninth day of March, 1592-3.
without the sacraments ; for, upon ' Ibid. Waddington's Penry, 93.
their own principles, they might 6 Hanbury, I. 86, note : " They
have elected their officers and con- do not flock together, but come two
veyed ordination at any time. or three in a company."

Cn. XIV.] THE INDEPENDENTS. 4"i 5
followed a short prayer without book. Then, while
all stood reverently and silently, he read these
simple words : " We " — the several names of those
present being pronounced — " agree to walk to
gether in the way of the Lord, and as far as may
be warranted by the Word of God."1 To which a
solemn assent was given by all.
"By this covenant, brethren," said the same voice,
"we are now constituted a true and distinct church
of Christ. Yet it remaineth for us, looking to God
for direction, to elect our pastor, our teacher, our
deacons, and our elders, that we may be furnished
with those officers set forth in the Testament of
our Lord." 2 The church was then organized by
choosing Mr. Francis Johnson, pastor; Mr. John
Greenwood, doctor or teacher ; Christopher Bow
man and Nicholas Lee, deacons ; and Daniel Stud-
1 Strype's Annals, VII. 244 ; world, " making the terms of com-
jduck's testimony. munion run as parallel as might be
* Ante, Vol. II. p. 302. with the terms of salvation," ready
It should be noted, that we find " with delight to see godly Congre-
ao intimation, in this instance, of gationalists, Presbyterians, Episco-
any written creed to be assented to palians, Antipedobaptists, and Lu-
as a condition of church-member- therans all members of the same
(hip. In this connection, I refer churches and sitting together with-
my readers to a " Congregational .out offenco in the same holy moun-
Dictionary," by Rev. Preston Cum- tain and at the same holy table,"
mings of Leicester, a work evincing &e.
much research. In the articlo Mr. Cummings assures me, that
" Creeds," it appears satisfactorily, requiring an assent to any particu-
I think, that the Congregational lar formula of religious faith, as a
churches, from the time of which I strict condition of church fellowship,
write, abjured all creeds as tests of is an innovation upon the Congre-
Christian character, or of fitness for gational system, unknown in the
church fellowship and communion ; churches until within a hundred or
and that for moro than a century a hundred and fifty years. (Com-
those churches were more truly catho- pare ante, Vol. H. p. 308, and
lie in spirit than any churches in the note 2.)

476

THE INDEPENDENTS.

[Ch. XIV

ley1 and George Kniston, elders.2 Probably Mr.
Greenwood was chosen doctor, because, being im
prisoned, he could perform to the church no other
service than that of instruction by letters or other
missive counsel.3
The covering was then removed from the table,
revealing the sacramental vessels and elements, and

1 Egerton, Papers, 176.
* In the account of this organiza
tion, there is no mention of any act
of ordination. In Mr. Johnson's
case it was not thought necessary,
if — as I suppose — he had received
episcopal ordination, and considered
that sufficient. But Mr. Greenwood
had renounced his episcopal orders,
and considered himself a mere lay
man, not authorized to administer
the sacraments. If, then, — as Dr.
Waddington supposes, — ¦ he was
present upon this occasion, " being
out of prison on bail for the night "
(Waddington's MS.), he could not
consistently have proceeded in the
administration of the Lord's Supper
without first submitting to the cere
mony of ordination. But wo find
no mention of his presence or of his
ordination, either in Buck's account
or in any other records of the time.
Mr. Greenwood was afterwards tem
porarily liberated ; but that does
not imply that he was at this time.
Mr. Johnson had experienced
much trouble at Cambridge for his
Puritan principles. (Strype's Whit
gift, 296,297; Annals, VII. 117-122.
Brook, H. 89-96.) But he, like
other Puritans of the Presbyterian
school, had been as much opposed
to the tenets and practices of Inde
pendency as to those of Episcopacy.

Hence, when at Middleburgh in
Zealand, he was so zealous against
Mr. Barrow and Mr. Greenwood,
" that, when their ' Refutation of
Gifford ' was privately printing in
this city, he not only was a means
to discover it, but was made the
ambassador's instrument to inter
cept them at the press and see
them burned, .... surprising the
whole impression  Only he
took up two of them, .... and
being set down in his study, he be
gan to turn over some pages of this
book, and superficially to read some
things here and there as his fancy
led him. At length he met with
something that began to work upon
his spirit, which so wrought with
him as drew him .... seriously to
read over the whole book ; the
which he did once and again. In
the end he was so taken, and his
conscience was troubled so, as he
could have no rest in himself until
he crossed the seas and came to
London to confer with the authors,
who were then in prison. After
which he was so satisfied and con
firmed in the truth, as he ... . ad
joined himself to their society at
London." (Morton, 334.)
3 At least such is Dr. Wadding
ton's opinion. MS.

Ch. XIV.] THE INDEPENDENTS. 477
a small baptismal font. Mr. Johnson then adminis
tered the ordinance of baptism to " seven children,
being several years of age,"1 without godfathers
or godmothers, simply applying water to their
faces, saying, " I do baptize thee in the name of
the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
These were children of different members of the
church, and were probably presented by their par
ents. If they were so presented, the church was
Pedobaptist. Then followed the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper, administered by the pastor, after
the simple form common in our Congregational
churches of the present day; and, finally, a collec
tion of money, to be distributed by the deacons,
at their discretion, among the poor.2
"It was intended to organize a second church,
 but an intercepted letter, falling into the
hands of Dr. Bancroft, revealed their plan, and led
to its frustration." 3 Virtually, however, a distinct
church existed in Bridewell, — whether formally
organized or not does not appear, — where, " by
the indulgence of the jailer," the brethren prison
ers, and sometimes others, met for worship, preach
ing, discipline, and the admission of members "on
the personal declaration of their religious senti
ments and purpose to walk in the truth."4
Edward Boys was " an honest citizen " of Lon
don living "upon Ludgate Hill." On the night of
' Not " infants," as Dr. Wadding- s Waddington's Penry, 94.
ton says in his MS., unless he uses 4 Ibid., 90, 101. That something
the word in the technical senso of of the kind existed also in the Fleet
tho law. is intimated in Ilarl. Misc., IV
3 Strype's Annals, VII. 245. 339.

478 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Cn. XIV.
the 5th of December. 1502, when sound asleep,
he was shaken roughly by the shoulder and or
dered to rije. The voice, the hand, and a scream
from his wife, broke the spell of his heavy sleep,
and he sprang erect in bed, mazed by the glare
of lanterns and the presence of strange men.
" What, ho ! " instinctively making a demonstra
tion which did not please his visitors.
" Be quiet, goodman, be quiet ! " and the speaker
thrust him back upon his pillow. ': Look to the
woman there ! " turning to one of his underlings ;
and Mistress Boys, who had taken a step or two,
was rudely jerked to the bedside by the hair of
the head, where she sat trembling and moaning.
" To be living so snug, Master Boys," continued
the same voice, " when good men and true must
keep watch and ward for her Majesty's behoof, —
this be a woundy shame ! Fie, man ! "
For the moment confused by the sudden appa
rition of moving lights, deep shadows, and rude
strangers, Mr. Boys, although still under the strong
hand of his captor, had recovered sufficiently to
demand with some energy the meaning of. this
midnight inroad.
" What are ye ? Burglars ? By what right, for
what, are ye here ? "
" So ho ! fair words. Master Boys, fair words ! The
right ? See ! " and the man, throwing open his
outer garment, showed the badge of a pursuivant.
"From Lambeth," said Mr. Boys. "What would
you?" " To show you to the Counter."
" Your warrant."

Ch XIV] THE INDEPENDENTS. 479
"Mine office be my warrant."
"That is not enough."
Mistress Boys had now become sensible of her
indelicate exposure, and made an effort to huddle
her garments for a screen to her person. An at
tendant, seeing her movement, thrust her prostrate
upon the couch. The husband's English blood was
up, and he dealt the ruffian a sudden blow, which
sent him staggering to the wall. The next moment
he was dragged from his bed and pinioned.1 After
some oaths and a warm altercation, ending in a
promise from Mr. Boys to make no resistance,
(which he saw would be useless,) he and his wife
were permitted to clothe themselves, undergoing
in the mean time many a rude and indecent jest.
They were then taken to another apartment, where
they found Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Johnson, their
guests, who in the mean time had been in the same
sort roused from their beds. Mr. Greenwood un
doubtedly had a temporary parole granted to him
by his jailer, on the simple guaranty of his word
to return.2
" So ho ! Master Boys ! You see now that we
find you harboring traitors ! Dost understand thine
arrest ? Now, men, search the house for books and
papers. Nelson and I will guard these fellows."
1 " The husbands, in the deep of ministers had been for the daytime
the night, they have plucked out only (Strype's Annals, VII. 66 ;
of their beds from their wives." ante, p. 396), there is not the least
(Strype's Annals, VII. 133.) reason to suppose. Indeed, there
* I havo already mentioned such arc strong reasons to suppose cther-
an instanco {Ante, Vol. II. p. 254). wise ; for the Independents were
But, that Mr. Greenwood was re- much more obnoxious to the bishops,
leased by his Grace of Canterbury, and much less able to procure bonds
or by any of the bishops, on bonds in a sum of money, than the Pres-
of forty pounds, as some Puritan bytcriaus.

480 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Ch. XIV.
¦• My children ! " exclaimed Mistress Boys. " Do
not frighten them. Let me bring them hither."
" Silence ! " and his men dispersed.
A merry time had these harpies, as "at their
pleasure they searched and ransacked all places,
chests, &c," burst open closets and drawers, and
crashed wainscoting, in search of plunder, under
pretence of searching for books and papers.1 The
cries of terror from the children were soon heard,
and the mother sprang for their protection.
'•' Back, woman ! " and the pursuivant struck her !
She sank into her seat again, murmuring, " My
God ! my God ! " while the blood trickled from
her lips.
" Gag those brats ! " roared the brute ; and soon
all was hushed but the moan of a poor servant-
girl, of whom further we depone not.2 It is suffi
cient to say in general, that the house was rifled
of whatever portables excited the cupidity of the
plunderers. The men then rallied around their
leader, who directed them to remove the three
prisoners. Mr. Johnson protested against this, there
being no warrant showed — indeed there was none
— for his apprehension.
1 " Their pursnivants, with assist- * " Their lamentable and barbar-
ants, break into our houses at all ous usage of women and young
hours of the night. There they children in these hostile assaults,
break up, ransack, rifle, and make .... their lawless privy searches."
havoc at their pleasure, under pre- (Hanbury, I. 89 ; Supplication to
fence of searching for seditious and the Council.) This Supplication,
unlawful books '' (Strype's Annals, as appears from one clause which it
VH. 133 ; Supplication of January, contains compared with the date
1592-3) ; "even robbing and taking of Buck's testimony, must have
away whatsoever they think meet been written immediately after the
from us." (Hanbury, I. 89: Sup- first Sunday in March, 1-302-3.
plication of March, 1592-3.)

Ch. XIV.]

THE INDEPENDENTS.

481

"I take you at mine own risk," said the officer.
"As for Mr. Greenwood, he is already a jail-bird."
Mr. Boys, however, after much entreaty, was
left under his own roof, upon giving " assurance
to be true prisoner in his own house until he
should be sent for." The others, "between one
and two of the clock after midnight, with bills
and staves were led to the Counter of Wood Street."
The next day all three were committed to prison
by " the Archbishop, with certain doctors, his asso
ciates." :
We record this incident, not only because it is of
interest as an historical fact, but as a specimen of
tbat habitual lawlessness of the High Commission to
which we have before adverted,2 and as a specimen

1 Waddington's Penry,
Strype's Annals, VII. 133,

105. 134,

and Neal, I. 199, note; Supplica
tion of the Separatists to the Lords
of Council, January, 1592-3.
Dr. Waddington is the only writer
with whom I meet who gives the
date of this midnight arrest, —
"Dec. 5th, 1592," (Life of Penry,
105,) — a date which has saved me
from serious mistakes. It enables
us to fix pretty nearly upon the
date of this very Supplication,
which itself boars no date of month
or year. But it says, that this ar
rest at Mr. Boys's house took place
"about a month since." Therefore
tho Supplication — Dr. Wadding
ton's date taken for granted — must
r have been written about the 1st of
January, 1592-3.
9 "This term" — Trin. 6 Jac. I.
— "it was resolved by the whole
Court .... that the High Commis-
VOl„ in. 61

sioners cannot, by force of the Act
1 Elizabeth, Cap. I., send a pur
suivant to arrest any person subject
to their jurisdiction, to answer to
any matter before them. But they
ought to proceed according to ec
clesiastical law, by citation ; for the
Statute 1 Eliz. did not give them
any such authority to arrest the
body of any subject upon surmise.
And although it be comprised with
in their commission, that they may
send for any by pursuivant, &c.,
yet, inasmuch as this hath no foun
dation upon the Act 1 Eliz., the
king by his commission cannot alter
the ecclesiastical law, nor the pro
ceedings of it. For the Act says,.
that the Commissioners shall exer
cise, use, and execute all the prem
ises (according to the privileges
of the Act) according to the said
Letters Patent ; id est, the Letters
Patent which are mentioned and

482 THE INDEPENDENTS. |Ch. XIV.
of the deportment of their officers, — of " their man
ner of pursuing and apprehending with violence
and outrage."1
Mr. Johnson knew at what peril he identified
himself with "this sect which was everywhere
spoken against " ; for all London had seen open
proof that the Commissioners were specially ex
cited against them, and he had reason to believe
that he was dogged by determined spies. He had
therefore pursued the duties of his new office with
the utmost caution, meeting his little flock "in
different places, and sometimes in the dead of
night."2 But these secret proceedings were sus
pected by the prowling detectives of the bishops,
and they were doubtless chagrined that their bur
glary at Ludgate Hill did not unveil a conventicle
of the " wicked sect."
Although the church was now without a pastor,
the bonds of brotherhood were unscathed. They
still continued their religious assemblies until the
first Sunday in March,3 1592-3, when fifty-six of
them were apprehended at Islington " in the very
authority before ; for this is implied the power and authority of the
in the word said; and for this, with- pursuivant ; for if his authority was
out question, the commission only, lawful, then killing an officer of
without the Act, cannot answer the justice in execution of his office is
proceedings of the ecclesiastical murder. Advisement was taken
law. till the next Assizes ; and upon
" And in the circuit of Northamp- conference at the next Assizes it
ton .... a pursuivant was sent by was resolved that the arrest was
the Commissioners to arrest the tortious, and, by consequence, that
body of. a man to appear before this was not murder." (Coke, Part
them, and, in resistance ofthe arrest XII. pp. 49, 50.)
and striving among them, the pur- ' Strype's Annals, VH 13.1.
suivant was killed. If this was 2 Brook, II. 97.
murder, or not, was doubted. And s " The 4th of March." Wad-
this depended upon the validity of dington's MS.

Ch. XIV-l THE INDEPENDENTS. 48S
game place where the persecuted church and mar
tyrs were enforced to use the same exercise of
prayer, praise, and hearing the Word of God in
Queen Mary's days." All of them were immedi
ately sent, two by two, to the different prisons
about London, and " unbailably committed by the
prelates or the Bishop of London."1 Thus was
this infant church scattered and peeled. But a
seed remained. -- Many were still out of the hands
of the persecuting and bloodthirsty faculty, — the
prelates of the land and their complices." 2
For six years, the bishops had been hunting
-¦ Barrowists." Before December, 1590, they had
caught " above eighty " in their toils, and committed
them to prison ; although at that time they held
not more than fifty in close confinement, the others
having died, or, for reasons which we shall specify,
having been released.8 In January, 1592-3, the
number had increased to sixty ; i and after the
arrest at Islington they counted at least " seventy-
two persons, men and women, young and old."5
Besides these, there were others in "other jails
throughout the land!'5 Some had been arrested for
1 Strype's Annals, VII. 244 ; * Hanbury, I. 89 ; Supplication
Buck's deposition. Hanbury, I. 89 ; (March, 1592-3) to the Lords of
" Supplication of those called Brown- Council. But for the language
ists " to the Council, March, 1592-3. here, which seems to imply that
Brook, II. 97. Ante, Vol. I. p. 127, those taken at Islington were in-
and references. eluded in the seventy-two, I should
* Hanbury, I. 89, 90 ; Supplica- have written instead, one hundred
tion (in March) to the Council. and twenty-eight, and even now I
* Waddington's Penry, 249 j Bar- am not confident that this was not
row to Fisher. the true number.
' Strype's Annals, VII. 134 ; • Ibid. Morton, 343.
Supplication (in January) to the
Lords of Council.

484 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Ch. XIV
conventicle worship ; some, for forsaking their parish
assemblies ; some, for dispersing, having, or seeing
certain books supposed to have been written by
Greenwood, Barrow, and Penry ; and some, " for
hearing a piece of the New Testament read and
expounded in one of their houses upon a Lord's
day " ; 1 but all had been committed upon the sole
commandment of the Bishop of London, "contrary to
all law and equity." 2 They had no allowance of
meat, drink, fire,3 or bedding ; and friends who
would have relieved them were forbidden access
to them.4 Sometimes they were kept successive
days and nights " without any manner of suste
nance " ; sometimes week after week with only a
straw mat to sleep on, even in the coldest weather,
and without a change of linen.5 Some "had not
'Brook, II. 45, 99. Strype's their relief, the father said of George,
Annals, VII. 134. Waddington's " He hath been kept sometimes two
Papers (from Lansdowne MS. 77, days and two nights together with-
Art. 26) ; John Johnson to Lord out any manner of sustenance.
Burleigh. Sometimes twenty nights together
2 Strype's Annals, VII. 128; without any bedding save a straw
Supplication to Lord Burleigh, with- mat, and as long without any change
out date, but certainly written after of linen ; and all this sixteen months
the arrest on Ludgate Hill, for it in the most dark and unwholesome
was signed by persons subsequently rooms of the prison they could
apprehended. Compare Ibid., 129, thrust him into, not suffering any
130, 134. ofhis friends to come unto him, and
" Pierce, 144. now of late not permitting your
4 Morton, 343, 344. orator, his father, so much as to see
6 John Johnson to Burleigh. him." (Waddington's Papers ; from
John Johnson was the Mayor of Lansdowne MS. 77, Art. 26.)
Richmond in Yorkshire (Wadding- " When our poor old father,"
ton's MS.), and the father of Francis wrote Francis afterwards, "sued to
Johnson, and of George, his younger Mr. Justice Young only that he
brother. Both of the sons " had might have liberty of the prison,
been scholars and Masters of Arts the Justice and the Dean of West-
in the University of Cambridge." minster would have sent him to
In his petition to Lord Burleigh for prison, had not Mr. Justice Barnes

Oh. XIV.] THE INDEPENDENTS. 485
one penny about them when sent to prison," and
were possessed of no means to maintain them
selves or their families but their "handy labors
and trades " ; and from these means they were of
course cut off.1 So close, in some instances, was
their approach to literal starvation, that temporary
liberty upon bail was allowed solely that they
might protract life by gleaning a little food.2 In
all this penury, under all this privation, many of
them were kept, — "aged widows, aged men, and
young maidens," as well as the more vigorous and
hale, — "without any cause either for error or
crime directly objected,"3 "never called to trial,"
" debarred from any lawful audience before the
magistrates, and from all benefit and help of the
laws," " without any release or bail " ; some, nine
teen months ; some, two years and a half; some,
three years ; some, longer.4 Under these sufferings,
— and the half has not yet been told, — we think
the language of the following complaint and prayer
but moderate. " Bishop Bonner, Story, Weston,
dealt not after this sort ; for those whom they
committed close, they brought them in short space
openly into Smithfield, to end their misery and
to begin their never-ending joy ; whereas Bishop
Aylmer, Dr. Stanhope, and Mr. Justice Young,
stayed them." (Strype's Annals, Pierce? 144, 145 ; from a letter of
VII. 188 ; Francis Johnson to Bur- Barrow.
leigh, January, 1593-4.) Thus we • Waddington's Penry, 249 ; Bar-
see on what slight grounds men row to Fisher.
ware liable to be imprisoned by the 8 Strype's Annals, VII. 133.
Commissioners. Even the prompt- 4 l"bid., 128, 133. Brook, H. 39.
'ngs of parental instinct might be Waddington's Penry, 101 bis, 251 ;
construed into crime 1 Barrow to Fisher.
1 Strype's Annals, VII. 128.

486 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Cn. XIV.
with the rest of that persecuting and bloodthirsty
faculty, will do neither of these  Are we
malefactors ? Are we anywise undutiful to our
prince ? Maintain we any errors ? Let us, then,
be judicially convicted thereof, and delivered to the
civil authority. But let not these bloody men
both accuse, condemn, and close murder us, after
this sort, contrary to all law, equity, and conscience ;
where alone they are plaintiff, accusers, judges, and
executioners of their most fearful, barbarous tyranny.
They should not, by tlie laws of the land, go any
further in cases of religion than their own eccle
siastical censures, and then refer us to the civil powers.
Their forefathers, Gardiner, Bonner, Story, dealt
thus equally ; and we crave but their equity 
We crave but liberty either to die openly, or to
live openly in the land of our nativity. If we de
serve death, it beseemeth the magistrates of jus
tice not to see us closely murdered  If we
be guiltless, we crave but the benefit of our in
nocency, that we may have peace to serve God
and our prince in the place and sepulchres of our
fathers. Thus protesting our innocency ; complain
ing of violence and wrong ; and crying for justice
on the behalf and in the name of the Bighteous
Judge, we continue our prayers unto Him for her
Majesty and your Honors."1
"But murder is a hard word."
Indeed it is ! And so is the cry, " Air ! air !
Fresh air, for the love of God ! "
" No fresh air ! "
None, — none, — none ! Poisoned air ! Poisoned
1 Hanbury, L 89, 90 ; Supplication (March, 1592-3) to the Council.

Ch. XIV.] THE INDEPENDENTS. 487
by the exhalation from latrince ; by the effluvia
from sewers and from the persons of unwashen,
drunken felons ; by their oaths and obscenity ; by
having been breathed over and over by the in
mates of crowded prisons ; by filth accumulated in
every corner.
-' Christian men, sincere and true, shut up to such
misery by the bishops of the English Church ! "
True. Gasping at the grates for one, one breath
of God's pure air! Not so terrible as the Black
Hole of Calcutta, but like it, — a prototype.
" Still, murder, charged upon Protestant bishops,
is a hard word, and strange."
Let us talk of that presently. First, about bad
air and cold and filth and hunger, and some
other things which were allotted in those days to
strong men and old, to tottering widows and tender
maidens. What we have said of the filth and filthy
company which were Tregian's lot, what we have
said in connection with the imprisonment of Field
arid Wilcox,1 may serve as preparatory to a few
stories by which we shall try to illustrate prison
life and prison woe in the days of Elizabeth.
There was a sickness then, — sometimes called
the plague and sometimes jail-fever, — generated by
confinement, foul air, cold, filth, and hunger. At
one time, in the year 1578, it smote to the death
twenty Catholics in the castle of York, and again,
in the year 1580, many others in Newgate prison.2
But let us turn to other instances which reveal
the characteristic features of this distemper.
y Ante, Vol. I. pp. 444-446; 'Lingard, VIII. 151 and note.
Vol. H. p. 89. Taylor, II. 144.

488 THE INDEPENDENTS. |Cn. XIV.
We have mentioned Eobert Bell, Esquire, as the
first one of Queen Elizabeth's subjects who took
a stand in Parliament against monopolies granted
by the crown, afterwards Speaker of the House
of Commons, then Lord Chief Baron of her High
ness's Exchequer.1 At the summer Assizes in Ox
ford, in the year 1577, he sat upon the bench
when certain prisoners were brought directly from
the jail to the bar. So overcharged were they
with the miasma of their dungeons, that they im
parted a sudden plague. Some among the crowd
died upon the spot. Others, conscious of mortal
disease, staggered into the fresh air for relief, but
died in a few hours. Others lingered for days, in
furiated by pain and delirium, dangerous to their
attendants, reeling about out of doors wherever
their madness impelled them, and uncontrollable,
blind, deaf, sleepless, of unnatural strength to the
last moment ; some dying convulsively where the
last agony seized them, in the field or street, some
beneath waters into which they plunged. Some
voided blood, and these retained their senses to
the last. The most robust died the soonest. But
the mysterious malady touched no woman, no child,
no poor person, nor any one who had not been
within the poisoned air of the hall of judgment
at the time of the jail delivery. But almost all
who were then present in the Court fell sick and
died within forty days, — Sir Eobert Bell,2 the High-
Sheriff, four justices, and seven other knights and
gentlemen attached to the Court, and almost all
1 Ante, Vol. I. pp. 386, 387, 423 ; Vol. H. p. 167.
2 Ante, Vol. H p. 267.

Ch. XTV.l THE INDEPENDENTS. 189
the jury. This fearful disease was fatal to three
hundred persons in Oxford, fifty of whom were
scholars in the University, and twenty were towns
men ; and, in other places, to persons who sickened
in the court-room, " two hundred and odd." All
these were sensible at the same time of the fatal
attack.1 A like case, and yet unlike, occurred at the As
sizes held at Exeter in March 1585-6. The prison
ers to be tried were so reduced by sickness, that
they " were carried from the jail to the place of
judgment, — some upon handbarrows and some be
tween men leading them." In this instance, how
ever, the communication of the sickness was not
immediately apparent. All the members of the
Court and all others present continued in good
health, some of them for a few days only, but
most of them fourteen days after exposure, and
then sickened and died. Judges, lawyers, eleven
out of twelve of a particular jury, and " of the
plebeian and common people very many" were vic
tims. The malady spread throughout the whole
shire, and continued its ravages seven months.2
Such was the infectious and fatal character of
that disease, which originated from the foul air,
the loathsome offal, the cold and the hunger " of
filthy jails, more unwholesome than dunghills and
more stinking than pig-styes."8 To be sure, the
instances which we have cited were marked ; the
1 Camden, 223. Holingshed, IV. ' Holingshed, IV. 868, 869.
348, 344. Fuller, Book IX. p. 109. Stow, 719.
Lodge II. 160 and note. Challoner, 8 Brook, I. 180 ; Robert Johnson
Introduction, pp. 4, 5. Wright, II. to Bishop Sandys.
SI, 62, and note.
VOL. in. 62

490 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Cm. XIV.
sickness was of an unusually malignant type. Yet
in all the jails it was common in milder, though
yet fatal, forms ; epidemic, if not infectious, and
most prevalent and vigorous in the London prisons
during the months of August and September.1
We are therefore justified in saying "poisoned
air," when speaking of an atmosphere which could
beget such terrible disease. What must have been
the sufferings of those, not relieved by death, who
inhaled such noxious effluvia month after month,
year in and year out!
•¦ But you were speaking of murder."
True. But we were first to tell a few stories
necessary to explain the sort of murder; and we
have not yet concluded.
One Sunday morning, about a score of these
prisoners of the " wicked sect " were in the large
apartment in Bridewell common to all. They had
come thither, for the most part one by one, from
'¦ the holes of the prison," 2 where they had passed
the» night on their damp straw or mats infested
with vermin. They had the haggard look peculiar
to men and women bereft of sleep and food and
warmth. Some of them, though all in the youth
or prime of life, tottered into the hall, and tried
to smile good morning.
"Women?"Two. A short time before in the bloom of six
teen and eighteen years ; delighting themselves
with those bright pictures of life so beautifully
sketched by a young maiden's fancy and hope and
1 Strype's Parker, 265.
* Waddington's Penry, 251 : Barrow to Fisher.

Ch. XIV.] THE INDEPENDENTS. 491
latent love. Prison life had left sad marks upon
them. The bloom was gone, the smile, the bright
eye, the buoyant step. They shuffled into the
room, leaning on each other, but were guided from
the entrance by the stronger of the men to rude
benches against the wall, where each sank re
clining. The air which crept in there, as if re
luctantly, was first appropriated by villanous-look-
ing men and abandoned women, who huddled before
the grated window. The two or three who had sup
ported the maidens to their rough oaken couches
kneeled beside them, repeating some of the precious
words of Christ. The young sufferers lay there,
with dishevelled hair, pale, motionless except as
they panted, yet with a peaceful look upon their
features which indicated an inward ministration
from a better world. A little muddy water was
given them from a fragment of pottery, and tears
and words of sympathy. The abandoned men and
women were moved to pity, retreated from the
window that a purer air might reach the sufferers,
and gave them crumbs from their own scanty stores.
Keligious services, brief but fervent, were then con
ducted by Eoger Eippon, who had opened his
house in Southwark for the meetings of his breth
ren, and who, soon after the formation of the church
in Nicholas Lane, had been arrested and commit
ted1 to Bridewell.2
The rattling of chains and the rolling of bolts an
nounced the morning visit of a turnkey, and ap
prehension was visible upon every face, — the crimi
nals excepted, — because it was Sunday morning.
1 Waddington's Penry, 102. s Strype's Annals, VH. 130.

492 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Cu. XIV
" Chapel ! " shouted the man, as he threw open
the door ; and, advancing to the prisoners, he made
a motion outward. The criminals obeyed without
hesitation, but none of the others moved. " Now,
you gospellers, get you gone ! " Then, turning to
the trembling maidens, — " Up, sluts ! Odd zooks !
in a swound ? "
The fellow stood mute for a moment, gloating
upon their slender forms and pallid faces with a
grin of brutal pleasure. " Zounds ! an my lord of
Essex was me, and me was my lord of Essex — "
But we let his words pass. Laying his rough hand
gently upon the shoulder of one of them, he stooped.
He had almost fouled her pure lips, when he was
hurled away and lay at full length. In his place
stood another of the turnkeys — a broad-chested,
sinewy man — in the attitude of a protector to
the helpless ones. He said nothing ; but his face
bespoke a world of wrath and resolute defiance.
The ruffian gathered himself up, recovered his
quarter-staff and turned upon his assailant. But
when he saw who he was, and read his face, he
contented himself with an oath, and with demand
ing sulkily a reason for such usage.
" Attend to your own business, Atkins ! You were
not sent here to insult weak women. They can
not go ; they do not will to go ; and they shall
not go."
" Somebody shall, Will ! for it be upon com
mandment." " That is your business," with a tone and look
of withering scorn. " I meddle not with my Lord
Bishop's commandments. See you to them. But

Ch. XIV.] THE INDEPENDENTS. 493
sith he hath not commanded you to touch fainting
maidens, I will meddle. My name is Will."
Atkins glared for a moment upon his fellow-
turnkey, showing plainly that he would have
wreaked upon him his vengeance, had he dared.
But in default of courage, he turned his wrath
upon the prisoners. "An the sheep will not go to
pasture, we must drive them"; and, suiting the
action to the word, he belabored them with his
quarter-staff, until all were terribly bruised, and
blood flowed from the faces of some of them.
" Brethren ! " said Mr. Eippon, " stand fast in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and
be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage
to ceremonials. What concord hath Christ with
Belial!" Yet a few of them yielded to the torture of
blows, and, like the felons, went away to the prison
chapel. Tired at last of his work, Atkins seized
one of them by the hair, " Come along, Purdy !
I '11 take you for an example. Go in there ! " and
he thrust him within a narrow door which he
locked, and departed. The man called Will, — who
had in many little ways befriended the Christian
prisoners, particularly by allowing them clandes
tine worship,1 — after a few words of commisera
tion, followed ; and the bruised prisoners were left
to themselves again.
" Brother ! " said Mr. Eippon, stepping to the door
within which Mr. Purdy was confined, "be of good
courage. The sufferings of this present time be
not worthy to compare with the glory that shall
1 Waddington's Penry, 90, 104.

494 THE INDEPENDENTS. \Ch. XTV.
be revealed in us. As the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, so our consolation aboundeth by
Christ. Brother ! the Lord bless thee and keep
thee ! The Lord make his face to shine upon thee
and be gracious unto thee ! The Lord lift up his
countenance upon thee and give thee peace ! "
A low moan from within was the only answer.
But soon the poor victim began to groan bitter!}'.
After an hour, his moans gave place to groans,
and groans to piercing cries. Then came convul
sive throes which shook and wrenched the door,
until at last all was still.
Nearly another hour passed, when Atkins ap
peared with those whom he had driven to chapel,
and who now bore the stinted rations for such as
had means of payment. No pay, no food ; except
as it was doled to the penniless by their companions.
Upon this occasion, though all were faint from hun
ger, none would touch a morsel. Atkins, with spicy
profaneness, expressed his surprise. Mr. Eippon
pointed to the closet ; and, with some hesitation,
the fellow opened the door. Out rolled poor Purdy
upon the stone pavement ; the jaw fallen, the eyes
glaring and protruding, the face mottled, the hands
clenched and every limb contracted. The jailer
kicked him as he fell, and cursed him for dying
there. But his brethren in bonds pUed every
means of restoration, till at length the poor man
gasped, groaned, opened his eyes, and finally re
vived. What was done to him there, in that
closet ? Nothing. He was shut up, — that was all
That was " Little Ease " ; a place of such strait di
mensions, that the prisoner could neither stand, nor

Ch. XIV.] THE INDEPENDENTS. 495
sit, nor lie down,1 — an ingenious contrivance to
administer terrible torture without trouble to the
torturer. We do not suppose that this was the beginning
of John Purdy's sufferings for conscience' sake.
Certainly it was not the end of them. On another
Sunday morning he lay senseless; his face puffed
and discolored ; his eyes swollen and closed ; blood
oozing from his mouth, his ears, his nostrils. His
fellow-prisoners were clustered about him, and using
all the simple means at their command for his res
toration. Mr. Eippon, wiping the blood from his lips
with a soiled rag, kissed the pale forehead of the
sufferer. The kiss, the tears making the wounded
face smart, roused the poor man, so that he sat
up. He was then carried to a distant corner of
the prison, where his straw lay. It was done with
all possible gentleness, yet every touch and motion
extorted from him some sign of pain, for he was
sorely bruised from head to foot.
Mr. Eippon shook up the fetid straw, to make it
less compact and to drive out the rats. Then they
laid him down. But, though they did it as gen
tly as possible, he could not suppress a piercing
cry. It would not do to leave the helpless man
there alone. Eiver rats have a keen scent and
a keen relish for bruised and bleeding flesh, and
the ferocious creatures — Bridewell was upon the
bank of the Thames — would have eaten him up
1 Lingard, VIII. 440. the posture there is no doubt ; but
Dr. Lingard says : " The prisoner it may be questioned whether life
was compelled to draw himself into could have been sustained in such a
a squatting posture, and so re- posture "during several ''ays,* il
maincd during several days." Of indeed during one.

496 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Ch. XIV.
alive. Some of the boldest of them were already
looking at him hungrily from their holes in the
wall. The brethren therefore were to watch with
him by turns.
Atkins had been whipping Mr. Purdy for again
refusing to attend religious service in the prison
chapel. The whipping was " beating him with a
great cudgel very extremely."
The poor man so far recovered as to creep about
the prison again. But such treatment, together
with stinted food, a damp bed, and noxious vapors,
soon wrought their natural effect; and one cold
morning he was found dead — but not untouched or
alone! — upon his matted straw. He was "a very
godly and honest person, and was committed by
the Archbishop!'1
This was not a solitary case. It is but a speci
men of prison treatment under the rule of the
High Court of Commission. Others also, and for
the same reason, were subjected to the tortures
of " Little Ease " and the cudgel.2 " Some were
cast in irons and dungeons," 3 " laden with as many
irons as they could bear,"4 for not attending upon
chapel worship.5 One lad, only fifteen years of
age, was kept in Newgate and in a dungeon "a
whole year for this cause, " 6 — how much longer we
do not know. " Six men, for hearing a piece of
the New Testament read, were kept in the holes
of these prisons more than three years and three

1 Strype's Annals, VII. 130, 133. 3 Ibid., 128.
Brook, II. 39. Waddington's Pen- 4 Ibid., 133.
ry, 250 ; Barrow to Fisher. 6 Waddington's Penry, 250.
2 Strype's Annals, VII. 133. ' Ibid., 250, 251.

Cu. XIV.] THE INDEPENDENTS. 497
months," without being called -- to any trial or
examination."1 Some indeed were bailed forth to
make their appearance at the Sessions ; 2 and not
a few, overcome by prison horrors and the suffer
ings of starving families, recanted their opinions,
and were thereupon discharged.3 But others sick
ened under hunger and cold, and filth and stench,
and vermin and chains and tortures. Of these,
some were sent away on handbarrows, and died
within a day or two,4 and some died in jail.5 Then
came " the infection," which smote down two of
the aged widows arrested with Mr. Barrow and Mr.
Greenwood in August, 1587.6 In the single prison
of Newgate, seventeen or eighteen had fallen vic
tims before March, 1592-3.7 Others died in other
prisons, and some, as we have said, were thrust
forth to die. The last death of which we have
account was that of Eoger Eippon. He had been
removed from Bridewell to Newgate, where he fell
a victim to the plague in January or February,
1592-3.8 Let us now look fairly in the face the question,
How far were the High Commissioners respon-
' Waddington's Penry, 251. prisoners and placed upon his coffin.
* Strype's Annals, VH. 128. "This is the corpse of Roger Rip-
Waddington's Penry, 102. pon, a servant of Christ, and her
* Waddington's Penry, 249 ; Bar- Majesty's faithful subject ; who is
row to Fisher. the last of sixteen or seventeen
* Waddington's MS. , which that great enemy of God*
' Waddington's Penry, 249. the Archbishop of Canterbury, with
' Strype's Annals, VII. 130. his High Commissioners, have mnr>
' Hanbury, I. 89. dercd in Newgate within these
' Bcforo the examination of Buck five years, manifestly for the testi-
in March ; Strypo's Annals, VII. 244. mony of Jesus Christ. His sool is
An inscription, in the following now with the Lord ; and his blood
words, was prepared by his fellow- crieth for speedy vengeance against
vol. in. 63

498 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Cn. XIV.
sible for all these prison horrors ? By their sole
commandment, all ecclesiastical offenders, all whose
opinions did not square with the standard of Lam
beth Palace, and all suspected of latitudinarianism,
were arrested and committed to prison. Their
famibars were ever prowling about in search of
those whom the Commissioners had secretly pro
scribed ; so that they who were apprehensive of
proscription had no hope of safety except by skulk
ing from place to place.1 By their connivance, if
not by their command, midnight arrests were made
even without warrant, midnight outrages were per
petrated upon weak and unoffending women and
children, and midnight robberies were committed.
In these things they usurped authority above all
the public courts, judges, laws, and charters of the
land ; 2 and had been encouraged so to do by the
servile judges, who had declared that all their pro
ceedings were to be supposed legal. The pursui
vants were their hirelings. The jails were under
their control. The jailers and turnkeys were their
creatures. The treatment for each prisoner was
dictated at Lambeth Palace or London House. " Clap
that great enemy of the saints, and imprisonments. (Waddington's Pen-
against Mr. Richard Young, who ry, 103. Neal, I. 200.)
in this, and many like points, hath Richard Young was one of the
abused his power for the upholding Hi"h Commissioners. He was no-
of the Romish Antichrist, prelacy torious for his hard proceedings
and priesthood." (Strype's Annals, against the Separatists, and for the
VH. 186, 187.) The coffin bearing severities which, through his or-
this inscription was carried through ders, they experienced in prison.
the streets by some of the brethren (Strvpe's Annals, VH. 188 ; Francil
who were yet at liberty, and was Johnson to Lord Burleigh.)
presented before the door of Mr. ' Strype's Annals, VH. 1 34 ; Sup-
Justice Young (Hanbury, I. 90) ; plication of January, 1592-3.
which occasioned new arrests and 2 Strype's Annals, VII. 1 33.

Ch. XIV.] THE INDEPENDENTS. 499
him up close; let no man come at him!" was law
to every prison official, whether from the lips of
Whitgift or Aylmer. If any one was denied the
visits of his friends, it was done by virtue of the
warrant for his commitment.1 If any one had re
lease for a day on bonds of forty pounds, it was
only by a grant from his Grace of Canterbury. If
any one were precluded from such relief, it was
because his Grace refused it.2 When men were
kept year after year " in the holes of these prisons,"
— "contrary to all law and equity," — debarred
from any examination, "from all benefit and help
of the laws, and from any lawful hearing before
the magistrates," it was only because such was
the will of the Archbishop of Canterbury or of
the Bishop of London.3 When men and boys were
"cast into dungeons and laden with as many irons
as they could bear," it was done by order of the
Bishop of London or of Dr. Stanhope.4 When by
the torture of -• Little Ease " men were wellnigh
killed, or by that of the cudgel were beaten to a jel
ly, their keepers knew that forcing them to chapel
was the will of the Commissioners, and did but em
ploy those means of coercion with which they were
furnished. The ecclesiastical judges knew that the
prisons were charnels, and that their inmates were
"dying like rotten sheep"; yet they would neither
admit them to bail, nor bring them to be convicted
or acquitted by her Majesty's laws. Instead of
1 Strype's Annals, VH. 70 ; Cart- » Ibid., 134. Waddington's Pen-
wright to Lady Russel. ry, 251.
' Ibid., G6; Cartwright to Bur- 4 Strype's Annals, VII. 128, 133.
Icigh. Waddington's Penry, 250, 251.

500 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Ch. XIV
seeking thus to curtail their term of suffering, or
even to meliorate their condition, — instead of seek*
ing to check the havoc of squalor, disease, and
mortality, — they labored only to conceal the num
ber1 and the fate of their victims. They would
not suffer a coroner's inquest upon such as died
on their hands, although required in such cases
by law.2 They feared the verdicts. In one in
stance, for fear of popular wrath, — perhaps tu
mult, — they required a corpse to be carried out
of Newgate by stealth.3 "The Archbishop sought
by all strict and subtle means to suppress from the
light his barbarous and lawless proceedings " of
arrest, of commitment, and of prison treatment,*
" warning his jailers to give up a favorable, if not
partial, certificate of the prisoners living and dead " ;
and also sought, " through false informations and
suggestions, to incense her Majesty against them."6
Their humble supplications to the queen and her
Council, and even their private letters stating their
sufferings and wrongs, were intercepted and diverted ;
so that the prayers of the petitioners — considered
a peculiar privilege of the poorest English subject6
— were not heard.7 Even the Master of Bequests

1 Waddington's Penry, 249 ; Bar- T Ibid. Waddington's Penry, 248;
row to Fisher. Barrow to Fisher.
2 Strype's Annals, VII. 133 ; Sup- This very letter to Fisher, which
plication of January, 1592-3. Wad- I have so often cited, was inter-
dington's Penry, 250 ; Barrow to cepted. (Strype's Whitgift, 415.)
Fisher. Mr. Strype quotes from it ; but dis-
3 Waddington's Penry, 250. creetly omits all those passages —
* Ibid., 248. constituting by far the larger part
6 Ibid., 249. of the letter — which tell of prison
0 Strype's Annals, VII. 70 ; Cart- cruelties. In thus was he " honest
wright to Lady Russel. Mr. Strype " ?

Ch XIV] THE INDEPENDENTS. 50]
was Whitgift's creature ; and made it -- his custom
to suppress all such complaints from her High
ness's eyes." One, however, escaped his vigilance,
was "delivered to her Majesty, and graciously re
ceived!'1 But its effect seems to have been neutral
ized by the Archbishop's "false informations and
suggestions," evidence of which was furnished by
Mr. Barrow.2 The Commissioners even went fur
ther. Not being able •• by order of law to convict
the prisoners of any crime deserving bands,"3 "not
having or knowing any matter to lay to their
charge," 4 they " suborned " emissaries, under pre
tence of charitable Christian conference, "lo inveigle
them with certain subtle questions to bring their lives into
danger" under some particular statute.5
Upon reading Archbishop Whitgift's twenty-four
Articles for the examination of ministers ex officio
1 Waddington's Penry, 248 ; Bar- all according to the course of corn-
row to Fisher. mon law. Wherefore we require
1 Ibid. you, that twice a week at least you
' Strype's Annals, VII. 136; Sup- repair to them and seek by all
plication of January, 1592-3. learned and discreet demeanor to
4 Ibid., 134, reduce them from their errors ; and
• Ibid. Brook, IL' 39. Wad- for that either their conformity or
dington's Papers ; Barrow to the disobedience may be made manifest
Eight Honorable Lady  . This when they shall come unto their trial,
letter should bothe moro trusted, therefore we require you to set down
because written in daily expecta- in writing .... your censure what it
tion of death. is of them, as that, if occasion do
" The Bishop of London, by serve to use it, you will be sworn
order of the Archbishop and with unto.' " (Waddington's MS. ; and
advice of both Chief Justices, or- Life of Penry, 106.) This is a suf-
dcrcd " certain preachers in Lon- ficient confirmation of what I have
don " to confer with sectaries which quoted from Barrow in the text.
had forsaken the Church and were Dr. Waddington gives some in-
'n prison for the same ; ' for it is teresting specimens of these con-
mtended,' wrote the Bishop, ' if by ferences, which I hope may meet
persuasion they will not be re- the reader's eye when his book ia
duced to conform, to proceed with published.

502 THE INDEPENDENTS. [Ch. XIV.
mcrot Lord Burleigh had said, " I think the In
quisitors of Spain use not so many questions to
comprehend and trap their preys."1 Yet these
questions gave but a faint outline of the resem
blance between the High Court of Commission in
England and the Holy Inquisition in Spain. The
outline, we think we have filled up truthfully.
And in their usurpation of power; in their con
tempt of all civil tribunals, laws, and charters ; in
their control of the courts ; in their illegal and
midnight arrests ; in their slow torture by long
imprisonments, by chains, by starvation, by poison
ous air ; in their more direct torture by the " Little
Ease," the cudgel, and the dungeon ; and in the
measures which they coolly adopted to bring their
victims to recantation or to death, — we think we
have shown a more exact resemblance of the Com
missioners of England to the Inquisitors of Spain,
than Lord Burleigh dreamed of, probably a more
exact resemblance than he ever discovered. The
only difference between the two tribunals seems
to have been, that the minions of Whitgift used
Ihe tortures which we have described in lieu of
the more expeditious tortures of the rack and
the gridiron elected by the creatures of Torque-
mada ; that the latter hasted the catastrophe of
death, while the former crept towards it ; that in
Spain they despatched recusants by fire ; in Eng
land, by starvation, the plague, or the gibbet. In
either case, how far did the ecclesiastical judges
fall short of murder ?
1 Ante, Vol. H. p. 421.

CHAPTEE XV.

EXECUTIONS.
Christian Convicts led out of Prison for Execution. — Reprieved. —
Books published by Barhow and Greenwood while in Prison. — They
and their Assistants indicted for the same, convicted, and sen
tenced to immediate Execution. — A Conference with Barrow and
Greenwood " for their Souls' Health " and for their Recantation.
— The Sentence of their Associates commuted. — Barrow and Green
wood TAKEN TO THE GALLOWS. — TllEIK ADDRESSES TO THE PEOPLE. — A
second Reprieve. — Rejoicings of the People. — Taken again to
Tyburn and executed. — The secret History of their Reprieves and
Execution. — John Penuy and his Family at Stepney. — His Arrest
there. — His History while in Scotland. — His private Notes of
what he heard there. — His Papers seized. — Himself imprisoned. —
His Letters to ifs Wife and Children. — His Examination. — His
Memorial to the Government. — His Declaration against Prosecu
tion for his Books. — Is indicted, convicted, and sentenced to Death
for trivate Writings. — His Execution. — Elizabethan Juries —Pen
ry's Steadfa«"Ness. — His Farewell Letters to the Church, to ms
Wife, to his "hildren. — The Relation of the Queen to these Exe
cutions j aw jf the Bishops.
1592-3.

On ihe 24th of March, 1592-3, a heavy fog
tnamlod the city of London, beneath which the
few who were astir crept through cheerless light
and chilling air, although the sun full half an
hour before had shed a flood of glory over the
German Sea. A few shivering creatures were glid
ing along near Newgate ; here a man, there a
Woman, now a child, half clad in damp and filthy
rags, and there a lean and mangy cur, — all grub
bing or scenting the gutters for a chance morsel

504 EXECUTIONS. [Cn. XV.
of offal, and all wearing a look of ineffable woe.
The very house-walls looked miserable, — the fog
trickling along their faces and dripping from their
eaves. A man in charge of a rude cart and a sorry
horse, before the gate of the prison, and wrapped
in a heavy overcoat of frieze, — a half-naked lad
crouched in the corner of a wall, and gnawing at a
bone which he had just won by stout battle from
a dog, — were the only living things in sight which
did not give signs of suffering.
Within the prison the morning light was scarce
perceptible. A few flambeaux, supported by brack
ets, shed along the corridor a flickering glare, which
was reflected strongly, and to the unfamiliar eye
rather unpleasantly, from the steel weapons which
studded the walls. On either side were a row of
stout halberdiers, in full service dress, under com
mand of a yeoman of the guard, attended by a
sheriff's deputy. Soon after this arrangement had
been made, the clang of massive doors and rolling
bolts was heard from above, and then the heavy tread
of men and the rattling of chains along the stair
way. The head jailer then appeared, with a few of
his servitors, and advanced to the sheriff with five
prisoners, who were shivering with cold and in irons.
They were then delivered to the sheriff one by one,
— Henry Barrow, John Greenwood, Scipio Bellot,
Eobert Bowie, and Daniel Studley, to be led forth
to execution, — and were immediately conducted,
under guard, through a grated door to the ante
room, where hung a profusion of manacles and fet
ters, iron collars and chains. A smith now applied
himself to the work of unriveting their bands.

Ch. XV.] EXECUTIONS. 505
By their gaunt and furrowed faces and their gray
hairs, Mr. Barrow and Mr. Greenwood betrayed " the
cruel ueage which, at the commandment of the prelates"
they had endured " wellnigh six years," 1 " in most
miserable and strait imprisonment."2 The others
were comparatively hale, having been confined but
a short time ; and all appeared composed, and even
cheerful, with the single exception of Mr. Bellot, who
seemed overcome with terror in view of his ap
proaching fate. When at length they were all freed
from their irons, they mutely embraced, and were
then conducted by their armed escort without the
gate, where the cart was in waiting to convey them
to the gallows. The driver produced ropes, and
was proceeding to bind his living freight to his
vehicle, when an officer appeared, and presented a
paper to the sheriff, who broke the seal, glanced
over the writing, turned to his prisoners, and said,
with much respect and evident emotion, " Sirs ! by
her Majesty's most gracious order you are re
prieved ! " 8 They were then led back and recom
mitted to ward.
About two years after the last commitment of Mr.
Barrow and Mr. Greenwood, — i. e. about the year
1590, — their religious opinions had been publicly
assailed and misrepresented;4 particularly by Mr.
Gifford, minister at Maiden, who, though a Conform
ist, had been twice suspended and twice imprisoned
for his Puritanism.5 They had also been openly
1 Hanbury, I. 48, and Wadding- a Hanbury, I. 59.
ton's Papers ; Barrow to an " Hon- * Barrow to the Countess  .
orable Lady and Countess of his 4 Brook, II. 40.
kindred," April, 1593. ' Ibid., 274, 275. Strype's Ayl-
VOL. iii. 64

506 EXECUTIONS. [Cn. XV.
defamed from the pulpit, by "sparsed libels," and
mayhap " by false report and witness made against
them in those conferences " — insidious a — to - which
we have alluded, and which had been ordered by
the prelates. "No trial, all this while, upon any
suit or complaint had been granted them ; either
civil, that they might know for what cause and by
what law they thus suffered," a privilege " not de
nied the most horrible malefactors and offenders ; or
ecclesiastical, where freedom might be given them
to declare and plead their own cause." z They had
therefore resorted to the only means left for " plead
ing their own cause," — the press.
Although denied ink and paper, diligently watched
by their keepers, and continually searched upon
various pretences, they had contrived stealthily to
obtain scant materials for writing from Mrs. Green
wood, from her maid-servant Cicely, and from others
who brought them food. Upon scraps of paper thus
obtained, they had been able to write replies to the
aspersions uttered against them ; and, though often
rifled of some things which they had written, had
sent them forth piecemeal by the same agents —
crude and without revision — to be published by a
faithful friend in Holland.3 For these books — in
which they had indeed written freely against the
bishops and the established Church, but which con
tained " matters merely ecclesiastical " — " the prel
ates had caused them to be indicted " upon the
mer, 109-112. Hanbury, I. 49, » Ibid., 52, 53. " Egerton Pa-
52. pers," 171, 172 (by the Camden
1 Barrow to the Countess  . Society, 4to, London, 1840). Wad-
a Hanbury, I. 52; Barrow to Bur- dington's MS. Strype's Whitgift,
leijrh. 416.

Ch. XV] EXECUTIONS. 507
Statute 23 Elizabeth; the indictment setting forth
that the said books were seditious, tending to the
slander of the queen and State ; 1 or, in other words,
"tended to cry down the Church of England, and to
lessen the queen's prerogative in matters spiritual."2
After preliminary examinations, when they unhesi
tatingly avowed themselves the authors of the books
in question,3 they had been arraigned on the 21st
of March, 1592-3.4 At the same time were ar
raigned Scipio Bellot, gentleman ; Daniel Studley,
girdler ; and Eobert Bowie, fishmonger, — who were
indicted under the same Statute for publishing and
dispersing the books devised by Barrow and Green
wood.5 More than two years before, Mr. Barrow had ex
pressed the opinion — and the result proved his
accuracy — that " the Archbishop had destined him
self and Mr. Greenwood to death." c For this opin
ion there was a reason. In the case of Udal, (and
soon after in the case of Cawdrey,) the secular
'Barrow to the Countess  . Waddington's Penry, 105, 106, com-
Stow, 765. Heylin's Presb., Book pared) ; Bowie not until March 4th,
IX. Sec. 29. Brook, 11.41. Neal, 1592-3 (Egerton Papers, 173) ; and
I. 202. Bellot not until just before the trial.
* Egerton Papers, 166. (Compare the date of the trial
' Ibid., 1 70 - 1 78. with Waddington's Penry, 121,
* Stow, 765. Heylin's Presb., 122 ) One Robert Stokes was also
Book IX. See. 29. apprehended as their accomplice ;
• Waddington's MS. ; Attorney- but he had been first excommuni-
General Egerton to the Lord Keep- catcd for apostasy, by the church
er Puckering. Stow, 765. of which Mr. Johnson was pastor.
Collier says (VII. 167) that these (Egerton Papers, 173-175, 179.
men were committed with Barrow Brook, II. 47.) To his apostasy he
and Greenwood, in the year 1588. seems to have been indebted for his
So also says Heylin (Book IX. Sec. escape from prosecution, and per-
28). But Studley was not arrested haps from death.
until after December 4th, 1592 • Waddington's Penry, 25 1 ; Bar-
(Strype's Annals, VII. 134, aud row to Fisher.

508 EXECUTIONS. [Ch. XV.
courts had unblushingly sold themselves to the
ecclesiastical; and thus these two branches of the
government were hand and glove. The will of the
latter was the rule of the former. Consequently,
when " the prelates, by their vehement suggestions
and accusations, had caused " 1 these men to be put
upon trial for their lives, — had signified their will,
— conviction was sure. The judges had already
decided that a word against a bishop was a word
against the queen. To convict the prisoners, it only
remained for the queen's attorney to show — whether
by direct citation or by a strained construction mat
tered not — that they had written this or that, or had
intimated this or that, against the spiritual officers
of the crown, or against the queen herself. Under
these circumstances, a verdict of " Guilty " had been
quickly rendered.2 Two days afterwards — March
23d, 1592-3 — the sentence of the Court bad been
pronounced against them, -- and direction given for
execution to be done on the morrow." 3 Mr. Bellot,
overwhelmed by a sense of his condition, had burst
into tears, declared his great grief that he should
have been misled, and begged a private conference
that he might be reformed of his errors. The
others had behaved with great composure, and with
unflinching fidelity to their opinions previously
avowed, defending their published writings, making
1 Barrow to the Countess  . cause, if my memory does not de-
2 The only account of this trial ceive me, the entire letter is in
which I find, is in Barrow's letter to what I have designated as Wad-
the unknown Countess, his kins- dington's MS.
woman. In this letter he states the ' Waddington's MS. ; Egerton to
several counts in his. indictment, Puckering. Stow, 765. Heylin's
and his answers to them. I refrain Presb., Book IX. Sec. 29. Han,
even from an abstract ; partly be- bury, I. 48.

Ch. XV.] EXECUTIONS. 5l)9
no signs of submission or retraction, and no prayer
for mercy, at the same time and solemnly declar
ing their whole-hearted loyalty to her Majesty and
their obedience to her laws.1 Immediately after
their removal from the bar to prison, the Attorney-
General had informed the Lord Keeper Puckering
of the order for their execution on the next day,
" that, if her Majesty's pleasure should be to have it
deferred,  order might be given accordingly." 2
As we have stated, such an order was received
just as the convicts were commencing their jour
ney to the gallows.
Two days after this, — March 26th, 1593,3 — the
bishops sent certain doctors and deans to confer
with them and to exhort them, — particularly Mr.
Barrow and Mr. Greenwood,4 — " for their souls'
health,"6 "to recant their errors, otherwise as dan
gerous to their souls as they had proved unto their
bodies." a

1 Strype's Whitgift, 414, 415 ; Mr. Cartwright, then in prison, who,
Egerton to Puckering. after one conference, refused to
* Waddington's MS. meet them again. (Paule's Whit-
' Strype's Whitgift, 415. gift, Sec. 73.) I give Heylin's ac-
' Barrow to the Countess  . count of affairs between these pris-
' Paule's Whitgift, Sec. 74. oners and Mr. Cartwright. " Being
* Heylin's Presb., Book IX. Sec. their fellow-prisoner, he had a con-
80. ference with them, the rather in
The bishops, " for the deeper regard it had been reported from
humiliation " (Waddington's Penry, Barrow's mouth, that he had neither
107) of the Puritan clergy who acted nor written anything but
were under censure, had sometimes what he was warranted to do by
employed them to confer with the Cartwright's principles. The con-
imprisoned Separatists and to labor ference was private, and the result
for their conversion. For this pur- thereof not known to many, but
pose they had charged Mr. Stephen left to be conjectured from the fol-
Egerton, at the time under sus- lowing story. The Reverend Whit-
pension, to deal with Barrow and gift had a great desire to save these
Greenwood (Brook, II. 289) ; also men from that destruction in which

510 EXECUTIONS. [Cn. XV
In the evening, Egerton, one of the delegation,
wrote again to the Lord Keeper Puckering: "I
have spent this whole afternoon at a fruitless, idle
conference, and am but now returned, both weary
and weak." x Four daj's more were passed by these
men in prison and in chains, during which time
Studley, Bellot, and Bowie — being considered "of
fenders of a more pardonable degree — were res
pited " ; 2 or, more properly, received a commutation
of their sentence, — imprisonment during the queen's
pleasure, instead of hanging.
On the last day of the month, Mr. Barrow and
Mr. Greenwood stood in a cart beneath the gal
lows at Tyburn. The executioner adjusted the
ropes about their necks. Although they had been
brought thither " very early and secretly," the
news had spread swiftly, and a large crowd had
assembled to see them die. Never had Mr. Bar-
thcy had involved themselves by now kept in bonds ? ' Which said,
their own perverseness ; and to that the company departed." (Heylin's
end sends Dr. Thomas Eavis .... Presb., Book IX. Sec. 29.)
to confer with Barrow, at whose It will be observed that Heylin
request, and some directions from himself calls this a " story." I re-
the Archbishop in pursuance of it, ceive it as such, in the sense of
Cartwright is dealt with to proceed a fiction; because so inconsistent
to another conference. But no per- with Barrow's stern, manly inde-
suasions would prevail with him for pendence. Pierce says, very tem-
a second meeting. Which being perately (p. 147), " This story,
signified to Barrow, .... the poor though related by some writers, is
man fetched a great sigh, saying, not very probable." Dr. Taylor
' Shall I be thus forsaken by him? ventures to say (II. 87), — but
Was it not he that brought me first upon what grounds he does not
into these briers, and will he now inform us, — " Cartwright was al
leave me in the same ? Was it not least consenting unto the death of
from him alone that I took my Barrow and Greenwood."
grounds? Or did I not, out of such ' Strype's Whitgift, 415. Wad-
premises as he pleased to give me, dington's MS.
infer those propositions, and deduce 2 Ibid.
those conclusions, for which I a*n

Ch. XV.] EXECUTIONS. 511
row's towering form seemed more imposing than
when, his inward eye opened to the grand reali
ties of another world, he turned to take his leave
of the crowd, now hush as death.
"We are about to die. We are about to ap
pear before that Judge who knoweth and searcheth
the heart. With his eye upon us and his judg
ment just before us, we speak in all soberness and
honesty. First of all, we protest our loyalty and
innocence towards her Majesty, our nobles, gov
ernors, magistrates, and this whole State. We fur
ther protest, that in our writings we have had no
malicious or evil intent, so much as in thought,
either towards those to whom we owe honor or
towards any person in the world. And we ex
hort you all, and all others, no further to receive
anything written by us than there be found sound
proof of the same in the Holy Scriptures. Where
inever we have, through zeal, or unadvisedly, let
fall any word or sentence that hath moved offence
or carried any show of irreverence, we be heartily
sorry, and do humbly beseech pardon of them so
offended for the same. To you here present, we
give our parting word of exhortation. Obey and
heartily love your prince and magistrates. Lay
down your lives for their defence against all their
adversaries ; yea, at their hands meekly and patiently
receive death, or any punishment they shall inflict,
whether justly or unjustly. We exhort you unto
orderly, quiet, and peaceable walking within the
limits of your callings. We exhort you also unto
the holy fear and true worship of God. For our
selves, it remaineth only to declare, that we do

512 EXECUTIONS. [Cn. XV.
freely and truly forgive every one in the world
who hath wronged us, and do beseech Almighty
God that his rich blessing may rest upon her Ma
jesty, upon her magistrates, upon all her people,
even upon our adversaries." 1
Such is a scant and unsatisfactory outline of his
address, the only record of it which we have, and
given by Mr. Barrow's own pen.
Mr. Greenwood then addressed the people in
the same general strain. Then, clasping his hands
upon his breast, he commenced an appeal to God
in behalf of her most gracious Majesty Queen Eliza
beth, her Councillors, and her realm. In the midst
of this fervent prayer, when the tears and sobs of
the multitude were testifying their sympathy, a
shout was heard from the extremity of the crowd.
In the twinkling of an eye, it swelled onward to
the foot of the gallows, — "Eeprieve! Eeprieve!"
The multitude reeled for joy. Every hat, cap, and
kerchief was waved aloft, as a courier spurred his
horse onward, himself waving his hand and shouting,
" Eeprieve ! " When he had delivered his missive
to the sheriff, and the certainty of the fact became
evident by the removal of the ropes from the
necks of the prisoners, there went up from the
people another shout, — " God save the queen ! Long
live Queen Elizabeth ! " But, at a few signs from
Mr. Greenwood, the noise of joy was hushed.
" Amen and amen ! " said he. " And now, 0 most
gracious Father, King of kings, who holdest the
hearts of princes in thine own hands, what shall
we render unto thee for thy most signal mercy
1 Barrow to the Countess  .

Ca. XV.] EXECUTIONS. 513
unto this realm, in bestowing upon us a queen
who doth plentifully daily imitate thee in mercy ! "
Thus he proceeded, concluding the prayer for her
Majesty which had been so signally interrupted.
The people listened with fitting devoutness ; but
the moment he had concluded, their joyous accla
mations again burst forth ; and, as the prisoners
were taken back, " from the by-ways, from the
streets, from the houses," all along, " the people
greeted them with exceeding rejoicing and ap
plause" until they re-entered the walls of New
gate.1 On the sixth day of April, they were again taken
to Tyburn, and there executed, " early in the morn
ing."2 We have no reliable testimony respecting
the particulars of their deaths, excepting that " they
made a very godly end, and prayed for her Majesty
and the State." 8 " Tyburn itself never witnessed a
more wicked execution, or one more senseless and
impolitic." 4
We are fortunately enabled to peep behind the
curtain of State, and thus to throw some light
upon the reprieves of these men, and also upon
the immediate cause of their execution. The sug
gestion of the Attorney-General, that it might be
1 Barrow to tho Countess  . by Stow, 765; Rapin, II. 141, note
Stow, 765. Heylin's Presb., Book 6 (who erroneously says that Stud-
IX. Sec. 30. ley and two others suffered on the
1 Waddington's Papers ; Tho : same day) ; Heylin's Presb., Book
Pholipps to William Sterrcll, April IX. Sec. SO ; Neal, I. 202 ; and
7th, 1593, from the State Paper Brook, II. 42.
Office. Hanbury says (I. 49), "the "Neal, I. 202. Brook EL 42.
sixth day of May." But tho date Hanbury, I. 62.
which I have given is sustained, not * Marsden, 14£K
only by this letter of Phelipps, but
VOL. m. 65

514 EXECUTIONS. [Cu XV
her Majesty's pleasure, was doubtless the cause of
their first reprieve ; otherwise, as was usual in such
cases, death would have been inflicted the day after
their sentence.1 But their second reprieve was
solely owing to the intervention and influence of
the Lord Treasurer, who " would never screw up
the law to the pitch of cruelty," 2 even against one
whom he had called " a fantastical fellow." He
had seasonably received a supplication, complaining
that, in a land where no Papist was touched for
religion by death, the blood of these men, whose
faith concurred with that professed in the realm,
should be shed for their differences upon matters
merely ecclesiastical, and urging that they should
have the benefit of such a conference as might be
for their better instruction, or at least might be
a means of truthfully making public their opin
ions.3 This Paper was made known by the Lord
Treasurer to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and
the Bishop of Worcester, and its reasonableness
urged. But they were ¦¦' peremptory " against all
means of reconciliation and all means of mercy.
Whereupon his lordship " gave them some round
taxing words, and used some speech to the queen."
But. seeing the unyielding spirit of the bishops,
1 " They are all attainted by ver- and proposition came from Mr. Bar-
diet and judgment, and direction row himself. It may have been so.
given for execution to be done to- But the letter of Barrow which he
¦morrow, as in case of like quality.'' quotes here, and also in his " Life of
(Waddington's MS. ; Egerton to Penry " (263, note), lacks the corn-
Puckering.) parison, stated by Phelipps, between
s Lloyd, 477. the treatment bestowed upon Pa-
1 Phelipps to Sterrell. pists and that which was impending
Dr. Waddington (MS.) expresses in this particular case.
the opinion that this remonstrance

dr. XX.] EXECUTIONS. 515
and not being seconded by others in his endeav
ors to withstand them, — for "the Archbishop's
little finger moved powerfully"1 at the Council
board in all affairs ecclesiastical, — he was disgusted ;
and thenceforth, as it was thought, became remiss
in all like intercessions. In this instance, however,
he so far prevailed with her Majesty as to secure
her reprieve just in time to save the lives of the
two clerk convicts.2 We must therefore dissent
from those writers who assume that they were
first sent to the gallows merely to terrify them
into submission and to overawe their disciples.3
We turn another leaf in the secret history of
this affair. Parliament was now in session. The
prelates, aware that the construction put by the
judges upon the Act 23 Elizabeth was regarded as
an insult to common sense, projected a law which
should expressly enjoin the penalty of death upon
all ecclesiastical dissentients. They had introduced
to the Parliament a bill " making it felony to main
tain any opinions against the ecclesiastical govern
ment"; and had succeeded in carrying it through
the upper House. But the Commons had demurred
upon it; perceiving that it was so framed as to
"draw all the Puritans within the compass there
of," When this became known out of doors, orders
had been instantly given, and carried into effect,
for the execution of Mr. Barrow and Mr. Green
wood ; upon which " it was openly said that their
execution proceeded of malice of the bishops to spite
1 Heylin's Pro,?b., Book IX. Sec. ' Neal, I. 202: Brook, H. 42.
83. Fuller, Book IX. p. 218. Marsden, 148.
1 Phclipps to Sterrcll.

516

EXECUTIONS.

[Ch, XV.

the nether House. This procured them much hatred
of the common people, who were inclined that
way," — to Separation.1
It is stated on the best of contemporaneous au
thority, that " though Barrow and his fellow Green
wood were condemned for disturbance of the State,
this would have been pardoned  if they would
have promised to come to church. But to join in
the communion of a Church that believed errone-

1 Phelipps to Sterrell.
The bill was strongly opposed in
the lower House, and referred to
a committee, on Wednesday, the
fourth day of April. (D'Ewes, 517.)
The order from Council for execu
tion must have been given on the
next day. It was carried into ef
fect, as I have stated, " early in
the morning " of the day after, Fri
day. For obvious reasons, I have para
phrased in the text tho chief parts
of Phelipp's letter to Sterrell. That
the reader may judge of my accu
racy or inaccuracy, I transcribe it
verbatim et literatim, as I find it in
Dr. Waddington's Papers.
" State Paper Office, Domestic, 7
April, 1593. — The Parliament is to
endo this weke. The bill preferred in
the upper house agay nst the Catholiks
which you mentioned in your last is
past both houses with some amend
ment, the poynt is yl they are tyed
to remayne at theyr dwellings if
they do * to be banished the realms.
The other bill past in the nether
house was thought so extreme as it
s supprest. " There was a bill preferred
* )SVc. Tho word " not " is wanting.

agaynst the Barrowists or Brown
ists making it felonye to mayntain
any opinions agaynst tho Eccleshi-
astiacall Government which by the
Bishopp's means did passe tho up
per house, but was found so cap
tious by the nether house as it wa9
thought wold never have past in any
sort for y' it was thought all tlie
Puritanes wold have bene drawne
w">in the compassc thereof. Yett
by the earnest laboring of those
sought to satisfy the Bishopes hu
mors it is past to this effect y' who
soever shal be an obstinate recusant
refusing to come to any churche and
do deny the Queen to have any
power or authoritye in Ecclesiasticall
causes, and do by writing or other
wise publish tho same and be a
keper of conventicles also, being
convicted ho shall abjure the realm
w"Hn three mon thes, and loose all
his goodes and landes, if ho return
w'i>out leave it shall be felonye.
Thus have they minced it as is
thought so as it will not reache to
any man y' shall deserve favor in a
concurrence of so many faltes and
actions. The weke before uppon
the late conventicle you wrote of
last Barrow and Goodman ' —
Greenwood — " w"1 some others

Ch. XV.]

EXECUTIONS.

517

ously that our Lord's soul went to hell, — thus mak
ing the Gospel, which says he went to heaven, a
lie, — they utterly refused to do."1 This testimony
cannot be questioned. But it shows clearly, that, al
though these men were " prosecuted in the temporal
courts and by Statutes of Parliament,"2 their real
offence was ecclesiastical. It shows that they were
hung, — like Thacker and Copping, and under the
same Statute,3 — ostensibly as felons for sedition,

were indited, arrayned, and con
demned upon the statute of writing
and publishing seditious bokos and
ihold have bene executed, but as
they were redy to be trussed up
were reprieved, but the day after
the Court House" — Parliament, or
lower House — " had shewed theyr
dislike of this bill were early in the
morning hanged. It is said their
reprivall proceded of a supplication
made to tho Lo. Tresorer complayn-
ing that in a land where no papist
was touched for relligion by death
theyr blood (concurring in opinion
touching fay"» wth that was pro
fessed in tho realme) shold be first
shedd. Desiring therefore confer
ence to bo removed from thoyr er
rors by reason or else ff satisfaction
of the world touching thoyr opin
ions, wot" was communicated by him
to tho Archbishop of Canterbury
who notwl|'standing was very pe
remptory so as the Lo. Tr. gave
him and the B. of Worcester some
round taxing words and used some
speacho to the Queen but was not
seconded by any w<* hath made
him remisse as is thought. It is
playnly sayd y' theyr execution
proeeding of malice of the Bish-
oppe9 to spite the nether house
wd" hath procured them much ha

tred among the common people
affected y way 
" Your assured Friend,
" Tho : Phelipps.
" To my loving friend, Mr. Wil
liam Sterrell."
1 Hugh Broughton ; Strype's
Whitgia, 415.
Broughton was doubtless correct
in giving this as a reason for their
persistent separation from the State
Church. It was the only one which
he, in his controversy with Dr. Ban
croft respecting the Article in the
Creed which expresses this doctrine,
had occasion to state. But the
Separatists certainly had other rea
sons ; the chief of which commanded
the respect and assent of the Pres
byterian Puritans, and which cannot
better be expressed than by Mr.
Greenwood's own words in his prison
conference with Mr. Hutchinson.
" All thepeople, by the blowing of her
Majesty's trumpet at her coronation,
were in one day received " — into the
State Church — " without conver
sion of life by faith and repentance ;
and they and their children gener
ally received to your sacraments
without separation from the world."
(Waddington's MS.)
' Strype's Whitgift, 415.
• Ante, Vol. II. p. 321.

618 EXECUTIONS. [Cn. XV
but really as Brownists, for their religion. The
pretence was transparent. While the ecclesiastical
and the secidar judges fancied that — by these pro
ceedings at law — they were throwing dust in the
eyes of the people, they were but blinding their
own. While they fancied that they were strength
ening their power, they were really sapping its
foundations. We have only to add to this narrative, that, by
the commutation of their sentence, Bellot, Bowie,
and Studley were subjected to a more mournful
fate than that of their principals. " Studley, after
four years' imprisonment, was banished from the
country ; and Bellot and Bowie, not long after,
died in prison," "from want, and fetid atmosphere."1
Stepney was an extensive out-parish of London,
about three miles eastward, on the banks of the
little river Lea, a tributary of the Thames. Three
hundred years ago, its population was scattered,
and most of the dwellings there were surrounded
by pleasant and ample grounds ; some of which
were occupied solely for the comfort of the in
mates, but most of them were cultivated by the
owners or tenants for the supply of the city market
Just after noon of the 21st of March, 1592-3, —
a day remarkable for its sunny warmth, — in one
of the gardens there, was a young mother in happy
charge of four children, all daughters ; 2 — two of
whom were tripping here and there; one creeping
upon the greensward at her feet; another reclin-
* Brook IL 41. Waddington's ' Waddington's Penry, 136-145
MS. from Yelverton MS.

Ch. XV.J EXECUTIONS. 519
ing quietly in her lap. The eldest, not yet four
years old,1 had rambled behind a hawthorn which
screened the garden gate. A few minutes had
elapsed when the child reappeared, uttering a
cry of delight, and pulling along by the hand a
stranger, who paused as he found himself sudden
ly iu the presence of the young mother. Bow
ing respectfully, and even diffidently, as he en
countered her look of surprise and inquiry, he
apologized for his intrusion by saying that he had
formed a sudden acquaintance with her child at
the gate, an acquaintance which had ripened into
a mutual attachment of two minutes' duration, and
that he had thus been drawn — pointing to the
little hand which held his own — unwittingly to
encroach upon her privacy. The stranger wore
the sober dress of a grave but thriving citizen ;
and his slightly gray hair — for he had uncovered
as he spoke — showed that he had passed the
meridian of life. Tlie expression of his face was
kindly but sad. Yet a scrutinizing eye would have
seen there — what the young mother did not —
a lurking line of cunning. He concluded by say
ing, " Prithee, madam, let my excuses suffice ; the
more that I have been enticed by so fair a tempter";
laying his hand upon the head of his little guide.
"A mother, sir, is slow to take offence at what
her child hath brought to pass."
He made a courteous sign of acknowledgment,
and hinted, in a subdued and tremulous tone, that
he had been bereaved of children. " But," he added,
1 Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, p. 180. Waddington's Penry, 132, 139.

520 EXECUTIONS. [Ch. XV,
"by mine own sorrows I am the better fitted tc
console others with discourse of a better world."
" You cannot lack employment," responded the
mother, "for sure there be many nowadays who
need such consolation."
The stranger caught at her words, and soon
frankly avowed that his sympathies were with those
who lay in the prisons of London for conscience'
sake ; that he was constantly laboring for their re
lief; and, particularly, that he had but yesterday
returned from the city, baffled in an attempt to
get access to Mr. Barrow and Mr. Greenwood, who
were this day on trial for their lives. A short
dialogue followed this avowal, during which the
eldest child was sent away by her mother, and dis
appeared within the door of the cottage at the
farther end of the garden. Soon after she reap
peared, carried in the arms of her father.
" This is my husband, sir," said the mother as
he drew near. Then, addressing her husband, she
said, " Here is a stranger, John, who doth visit
our brethren, our mothers and our sisters in prison.
Give him greeting. Mayhap you would confer
with him to their better condition."
As the husband advanced, — a man apparently
of about thirty years of age, — the stranger an
nounced himself as Eobert Staunton, a citizen of
London ; and explained in a few words, replete
with courtesy, the accidental occasion of his pres
ence. He was met at first with an air of shyness
which seemed to disturb him. But a few words
expressing his personal acquaintance with the im
prisoned Separatists, and his deep interest in their

Ch. XV.] EXECUTIONS. 521
welfare, were sufficient to inspire confidence. A
long conversation ensued, during which Mr. Staun
ton spoke of the anxiety of some of the brethren
for Mr. Penry, who had narrowly escaped arrest
when the assembly was seized at Islington. -- Mr.
Barrow especially," said he, " wishes to open com
munication with him, but knows not where to find
him." "How could you get this word from him, or
how could Penry communicate with him ? "
"Through Mistress Greenwood and her maid
Cicely messages have passed between us, and will
still pass."
" Will you bring me to see Mistress Greenwood
or her maid ? I have sought for them in vain."
"These are times when men must be cautious."
"You are a stranger, sir. Yet, on the faith of
your familiar acquaintance with those imprisoned
for Christ's sake, I will dare to say that I am
John ap Henry."
Mr. Staunton was rejoiced at his discovery ; and
now confessed that he had been sent by some of
the brethren in search of Mr. Penry, and congratu
lated himself in words upon the accident which
had so strangely thrown him in his way. Then,
promising to return on the morrow morning to
guide Mr. Penry to Mistress Greenwood, he cour
teously took his leave.
On the morrow, faithful to his word, he appeared ;
chatted awhile in a most Christian-like way with Mr.
Penry and his wife in their little parlor, which was
also his study ; passed with him through the garden
gate ; quickly slipped him into the custody of men
vol. in. 66

522 EXECUTIONS. [Cu. XV
who stood there in waiting; announced that Mr
Staunton was Watson, a pursuivant of his lord's
Grace of Canterbury ; and blandly informed him
that, while he was on his way to prison, he (Watson)
would search his study and console his wife.1 This
arrest had been effected by means of the vicar of
the parish, who had furnished '• some information "
which served as a clew to Mr. Penry's retreat.2
During his residence in Scotland the young Welsh
man had occupied himself in theological study c and
in preaching the Word, '•' being thereunto desired
earnestly and called by the order of that Church."4
He had left behind him the royal ban of England.
He had also been honored with another in Scotland.
King James — probably5 at the request of his "lov
ing sister and cousin, Elizabeth E." — had ordered
"open proclamation to be made at the principal
market-crosses of the realm, and other places need
ful, that John Penry, Englishman, should depart the
realm within ten days after being charged there
to, and that he should in no wise return, under the
pain of death ; also charging his Highness's subjects,
' Whitgift and others are charged mistake of ~Mr. Neal probably arose
with an indecent haste, in the con- fr0m a hasty reading of Strype's
duct of this affair, of which they Whitgift, p. 4 On, where the mean-
were not guilty. Neal says that ing is simply, that Mr. Penn-, after
Mr. Pcnry was apprehended in the having been arrested, " was com-
month of May. But on the sixth mitted close prisoner"; and that
day of April Penry wrote to his " in May he was arraigned," &c.
wife from prison ; in which letter s Strype's Whitgift, 409. Hcy-
he speaks of having been arrested lin's Presb., Book IX. Sec. 31.
on the 22d of March (Waddington's AVaddington's Penry, 121.
Penry, 122, 127) : and we find from * Strype's Whitgift, 414.
another source, that on the 10th of * Harleian Misc., IV. 343.
April he was under examination. s Waddington's Penry, 59.
(Harleian Misc., IV. 340.) The

CH.XV.] EXECUTIONS. 523
of what estate, degree, or quality soever, that none
should take upon hand — the said space being by-
past — to intercommune with the said John Penry,
or furnish meat, drink, house, or harbor, under what
soever color or pretence, under said pain of death." 1
But the clergy of Scotland shielded the refugee,
and " everywhere staid the proclaiming " of the royal
order ; 2 so that he had remained within the kingdom
two full years longer and unmolested. He had re
turned to London in the month of September, 1592,8
for a purpose which we are about to state ; had
associated himself with the Independent congrega
tions ; had preached to them ; and was present with
those who had been arrested at Islington.4 But, as
he was yet liable to arrest by virtue of the former
decree of the Council, he had found it necessary to
conceal himself and to govern his movements by
the utmost caution.
While in Scotland he had " heard not a few words
spoken against Queen Elizabeth, as though she la-
hored to stifle the Gospel in her dominions." 6 He had
heard them from all classes, — gentry, clergy, com
monalty;0 to which he had uniformly replied, that
in his very conscience he believed that " the Gospel
was as much beholden unto her Majesty as unto
all princes in Europe beside,"7 whereby "he had
1 " Apud Edinburgh sexto die ' Waddington's Penry, 84.
mensis Augusti anno Domini milles- * Strype's Annals, VII. 244, 248.
simo quingontcsimo nonagesimo." Hanbury, I. 85. Waddington's
Waddington's Papers, from the Penry, 92, 94, 120, 125.
State Paper Office, Scotland, 1590, * Strype's Whitgift, 409.
July to December, Vol. 46, No. 20. • Ibid., Appendix, p. 177; Pen-
Indorsed," 6 Aug., 1590, Ag. Pery." ry's Protestation.
* Waddington's Penry, 59 ; from ' Ibid., p. 178.
Baker's MSS., Vol. XVI.

524 EXECUTIONS. [Cn. XV.
brought many of them, in those parts, to a better
opinion of her."1 While yet in Scotland, he had
also noted these hard speeches upon paper; jotting
them down without method, that he "might upon
better leisure consider them." 2 These memoranda,
although thrown roughly into the form of an Ad
dress to her Majesty, were merely memoranda of
other people's notions ; which was made evident, not
only by his solemn declaration, but by his own
most secret diary, afterwards in the hands of his
prosecutors. For the most part this Address was
" expressed in the very, or like, words which had
been objected to him." 3 It was not only " so im
perfect as to have no coherence at all, and in most
places to carry no true English " ; 4 but was so
" confused that no man, himself excepted, could
possibly gather any purpose " from it.6 Of the lit
eral truth of this, the document itself is sufficient
proof.6 1 Strype's Whitgift, 409. word, that he deemed needful for
2 Ibid., Appendix, pp. 176, 178; the majesty of his cause." This
Penry's Protestation. may convey — though not strictly —
8 Ibid., Append., p. 177. the idea that he would have softened
4 Strype's Whitgift, 413. nothing of what ho had written.
' Ibid., Append., p. 1 78. The Paper, if indeed intended for
0 It is recorded in Strype's Whit- presentation to her Majesty without
gift, 410-412. " softening," was most insolent. And
I cannot agree with Dr. Wadding- although " containing nothing which
ton (Life of Pcnry, 183), that "the would now be reckoned treason-
great fault of these rough notes is able," yet these " rough notes " are
the truth contained in them, couched utterly unbecoming an address to a
in terms which, to the honest and prince ; are inconsistent with the
independent mind of the young precepts of the Gospel ; and equally
reformer, had become habitual " ; or inconsistent with that high Chris-
that, " had he given the last touch tian spirit which pervaded Mr. Pen-
to the memorial, .... it is extreme- ry. As I have stated, so I believe ;
ly probable that he would not have that this draught of a Petition, or
softened a paragraph, or even a Address, to the queen was like the

Ch. XV.] EXECUTIONS. 52t>
This rough draught of other people's opinions, and
in other people's words,1 — which he had not looked
upon for fourteen or fifteen months,2 — was designed
partly "for his own further consideration, that lie
night clear her Majesty when occasion should be
offered";3 and partly "as the ground of a brief
treatise which, with his own hands,  he pur
posed to have delivered to her Highness for the
manifesting of his faith and allegiance toward the Lord
and her Majesty." In this treatise, " as in a private
advertisement, he meant to have offered unto her
consideration, whether many things beside her knoivl-
edge were not done under her government to the
hinderance of the free course of the Gospel ? " i He
hoped that thus she might be led " to conceive of
him as he was in his heart towards her," and favor
a petition that he might " employ his small talent
among his poor countrymen in Wales for their
calling unto the knowledge of Christ." 5 These
writings were not only most imperfect, but had been
rest of his Papers, — and Penry against tho Lord and mine own
classes this with others, — a crude conscience in bearing false witness
form into which he had thrown the against myself." (Strype's Whit-
opinions and language of others, gift, Appendix, p. 17 7.)
To this opinion I havo been led by a Strype's Whitgift, Appendix,
a careful, minute, and I think can- p. 1 78.
did, examination of Penry's Protes- s " As I shall answer before Ine
tation. I think we have his explicit Lord my God," he wrote in his Pro-
and iterated declaration, that nei- testation, "I had no other but this
ther the allegations nor the " terms " dutiful meaning in setting down
of this Paper were a transcript of whatsoever is now so heinously in-
his own mind. terpreted in those my writings."
1 " Mine," he wrote, speaking of (Strype's Whitgift, Appendix, p.
all these his offensive Papers, "I 179.)
dare not acknowledge them to be, * Strype's Whitgift, 409 ; Appen-
for a thousand worlds ; because I dix, p. 1 76.
should thereby most fearfully sin ' Ibid., 409 ; Append., p. 177.

526 EXECUTIONS. [Ch. XV.
carefully concealed, so that " no creature under heaven
was privy to them, himself excepted." l When he
was arrested, his study was sacked, and these pa
pers, with all others in his possession, were seized.
The second day after, he was taken before Mr. Jus
tice Young, and by him committed to the Poultry
Counter.2 On the fourth day of April, 1593, Helen Penry
left a Petition at the house of the Lord Keeper
Puckering, that " she might have access to him to
administer such necessaries unto him as she could
for the preservation of his life." She was accom
panied by Catherine Unwin, a widow, who was
" seized on the spot and committed to the Gate
house by the Lord Chief Justice, for being with Pen
ry's wife and others when she delivered the Pe
tition." In some unaccountable way, Helen herself
escaped.3 A notable, but not rare, instance of the
slight grounds on which the Separatists were sent
to prison.4
On the sixth day of the month Mr. Penry " got
means, whereof no living creature knew,"5 to write
to his beloved wife, under the conviction that " his
blood was laid for, and that so his days and testi
mony were drawing to an end." ° Under these cir
cumstances it was an affecting letter. But it con-
1 Strype's Whitgift, 409 ; Ap- had conference with yon ; and that
pendix, p. 177. you. before his departure from yon,
: Waddington's Penry, 1 22 ; Pen- understanding that he was endan-
ry to his wife, April 6th, 1593. gered, did there promise to pray for
' Waddington's Penry, 125, 126. him, saying, that you hoped both he
4 The High Commissioners ob- and his cause should return with
jected against John Clerk : " That credit." (Waddington's MS.)
the said Penry, not long before his ' Waddington's Penry, 134.
arraignment, was at your house and • Ibid., 127.

Cn. XV.] EXECUTIONS. 52?
tained no matters of historical interest other than
we have cited above of his arrest and commitment.
More and more impressed with the conviction that
his life was about to be sacrificed, he made further
preparation for the event in a parting letter for his
daughters " when they should have come to years
of discretion and understanding," x — " the eldest
not four years old, and the youngest not four
months." 2 This letter was signed,' " From close
prison with many tears, and yet in much joy of
the Holy Ghost, this 10th of the 4th month of
April, 1593, your poor father here on earth, most
careful to be joined with you for evermore in the
kingdom of Jesus Christ." 3
The ink was hardly dry upon his signature,4 when
he was taken for examination before -- the Eight
Worshipful Mr. Fanshaw and Mr. Justice Young."
He had before refused to take the oath ex officio,
because against conscience and law ; though he held
an ordinary oath before a magistrate lawful.6 The
examination — which had no reference to the mat
ters for which he was about to be indicted — was
long, and embraced many points in ecclesiastical
controversy. Of these, we give only those which
bring into strong relief some principles of the In
dependents which we have but imperfectly devel
oped. "What office," said Fanshaw, "had you in your
1 Waddington's Penry, 136. spiritual comfort of my soul, your
' Ibid., 139. husband for a season, and your bo-
• Ibid., 136-145. The close of loved brother for evermore." (Ibid.,
his letter to his wife was equally 134.)
characteristic. " In great haste, * Ibid., 146.
with many toars, and yet in great 6 Harleian Miscellany, IV. 340.

528 EXECUTIONS. [Ch. XV.
church which meet in the woods and I know not
where ? "
Frankly acknowledging his connection with the
Separatists, Penry replied, " I have no office in that
poor congregation; and as for our meetings either
in the woods or anywhere else, we have the ex
ample of our Saviour Christ, of his Church and
servants in all ages, for our warrant. It is against
our wills that we go into woods or secret places.
 We are ready before men and angels to show
and to justify our meetings and our behavior in
them  The question should not be so much
where we meet, as what we do in our meetings."
" We will speak of your unlawful assemblies af
terwards. But what calling have you to preach.
Were you never made minister according to the
order of this land ? "
" Had I been willing, I might have been made
either deacon or priest. But I thank the Lord, I
ever disliked those Popish orders;1 and if I had
taken them, I would utterly refuse them. I have
taught publicly in the Church of Scotland, being
thereunto desired earnestly and called by the order
of that Church. Charge, I never had any ; there
fore I never bare office, either there or in any
other church."
" Did not you preach in these your secret meet
ings ? What warrant have you so to do, if you
have no public office in your church ? "
"Whether I did or not, I do not tell you for
the present. But this I say, that if the same
1 Yet Wood says (I. 592), that the degree of Arts— 1586 —hetook
about the time when he completed holy orders.

Ch. XV.] EXECUTIONS. 529
poor congregation desired to have the use of my
small gifts for the instruction and consolation there
of, I would, being prepared, most willingly bestow
my poor talent to their mutual edification and mine."
" And may you teach in the church publicly, hav
ing no public office therein?"
-- 1 may ; because I am a member thereof, and re
quested thereto by the Church. The body of
Christ (that is, any particular congregation of the
Church) ought to have the use of all the gifts
that are in any member thereof."
-- Then every one that will, may preach the
Word in your assembly ? "
" Not so ; for we hold it merely unlawful, yea,
tending to the Anabaptistical inversion of all good
order in the Church,1 for any man to intermeddle
with the Lord's holy truth,  except lie be de
sired and called thereunto by the body."
" But may any preach that hath not an office
in the Church so to do ? "
" Yea, that he may ; and the Word of God
bindeth him to preach, whosoever he be, that in-
tendeth to become a pastor or teacher in the
Church of Christ, before he take his office upon
him, and bindeth the Church to take the trial
of his gifts before they give him his office."
"What office hath he all this while?"
" No other office than every member of the body
hath, who are bound to have their full operation
in the body according to that measure of grace
which they derive from their Head, the Lord Jesus
1 Again I must object to Wood's diction to Penry himself, that " he be-
record. He says (I. 592), in contra- came a most notorious Anabaptist."
vol. m. 67

530 EXECUTIONS. [Ch. XV.
Christ  Now it should be no new thing unto
you to hear that they may preach who have no
office in the Church, seeing this is so common a
thinsc in the Colle-res and Universities."
" Yea ; that is in the schools."
" If warrantable in the schools, much more in
the Church and congregation."
" Well, then you bear no office in this your
church  But how came this to pass ? "
" Surely I was desired to take a charge, and to
continue with them. But I would not, because it
hath been my purpose always to employ my small
talent in my poor country of Wales. And this was
the only cause of my coming out of that country"
— Scotland — " where I was,1 and might have stayed
all my life ;  purposing to have offered my
self unto her Majesty or some of their Honors,
that it might be made known unto her Highness
what I hold in religion, and how clear I am of
those grievous crimes of sedition and disturbance
of her Majesty's peaceable government wherewith
I am wrongfully charged."
" Why ! you labor to draw her Majesty's sub-
1 The reader can judge for him- fear the like cruel death, which
self whether to elect this statement hurried him again to Scotland," &<•..
of Penry, or that of Heylin (Hist. Penry went to Scotland in 15S9,
ofthe Presbyterians, Book IX. Sec. and did not return until the au-
31), who says that, at the beginning tumn of 1592. Hacket, "a great
of Hacket's treasons, — an insane impostor," who fancied himself the
fanatic whom I have not thought Messiah, was executed July 28th,
worth notice, — " he makes for Lon- 1591 ; more than a year before Ten
don to have played his pranks if ry's return from Scotland. (Stow,
their design had took effect  762.) It is not to Collier's credit,
But when he saw those hopes de- that he adopts this libel of one of
luded and Hacket executed, his the most splenetic historians.
guilty conscience prompted him to

Oh. XV.] EXECUTIONS. 531
jects from their obedience unto her laws, and from
this Church of England, to hear you, and such as
you are, teaching in the woods!"
"Nay, I persuade all to obedience of my prince
and her laws  I know this enterprise to be
so far from repugnant to her Majesty's laws, as I
assure myself the same is ivarranted thereby. Her
Majesty hath granted, in establishing and confirm
ing the Great Charter of England (whereunto, as
I take it, the kings and queens of this land are
sworn when they come to the Crown), that the
Church of God, under her, should have all her riglds
and liberties inviolable forever. Let the benefit of this
law be granted us, and it shall be found that we
have done nothing but what is warrantable by her
laws." "What! is it meet that subjects should charge
their princes to keep covenant with them, and enter
to scan what oaths they have taken for this pur
pose ! Where find you this warranted by Scrip
ture?" "  It is the crown and honor of princes
to be known not only to hold, but even to be
in covenant with their subjects, that they will pre
serve them from violence and wrong. Nay, heathen
princes have thought themselves honored, when
their mean subjects have charged them very ear
nestly with the covenants whereby they were bound
unto their people. The laws of this land are so
full this way, as no man conversant with them can
be ignorant that our princes have preferred the
observing of those equal covenants whereby they
are tied unto their people, before the accomplish-

532 EXECUTIONS. [Cn XV
ing of their own private affections, yea, and com
mandments in some cases. Hence it is that the
judges of this land are bound by the law to ad
minister justice and equity unto the poor subjects,
notwithstanding that the prince's letters be directed
to them to the contrary. And as to the law of
God," &c. Then, answering Mr. Fanshaw's last ques
tion by citing cases recorded in the Bible, he con
cluded : " But alas ! I enter not to scan her Ma
jesty's oath. I only tell you what her laws allow
me and my poor brethren. And I am assured,
if her Majesty knew the equity and uprightness of our
cause, we should not receive this hard measure which we
now sustain. We and our cause are never brought
before her Majesty but in the odious weeds of sedition,
rebellion, schism, heresy, &c. ; and therefore it is no mar
vel to see the edge of her sword turned against us."
"Hath not her Majesty, by her laws, established
these offices and this order now in the Church of
England ? "
" I grant that, of oversight, her laws have ; taking
them for the right offices and order which apper
tain to the Church of Christ ; but, because we
plainly see they are not, we fly unto her former
promise and act, whereby she granteth us the en
joying of all the privileges of the Church of
Christ." " Why then go ye about to pull down bishops ? "
" Alas ! far be it from us that ever we should
intend such actions  We labor to save our
own souls, and all those that will be warned by
us, in avoiding all corruptions in religion, and prac
tising the whole will of God as near as we can.

Ch. XV.] EXECUTIONS. 533
Further than this we have no calling to go ; and
therefore dare not so much as once in thought con
ceive of anything that we should do in the altering
or pulling down of anything established by her laws."
"Why then meet you in woods and such sus
picious and secret places, if you purpose no insur
rection for the pulling down of bishops?"
"For the true and pure worship of God. And
there is not so much as a word or thought of
bishops in our assemblies, except it be in praying
for them that the Lord would show mercy and favor
unto them ; which we wish as to our own souls.
Our meetings are secret, as I told you, because we
cannot without disturbance have them more open."
"Then you are privy unto no practice or intent
of any sedition or commotion against her Majesty
and the State for the pulling down of bishops ? "
" No, I thank God ! nor ever was. And I pro
test before heaven and earth, that, if I were, I
would disclose and withstand the same to the utter
most of mine ability, in all persons of what re
ligion soever they were." 1
We make no comment upon the several points
of this examination. The frankness of the young
confessor, his mild but fearless defence of himself
and his brethren, the firmness with which he took
his stand upon Magna Charta as fundamental law,
the modesty yet manliness with which he claimed
that no statutes were laws, and no judicial pro
ceedings legal, unless in harmony with that same
grand instrument, his clear and sound exposition
of the obligations of princes, — on which point he
• ' Harleian Misc., IV. 840 - 348, contains the Examination entire.

534 EXECUTIONS. [Cn. XV
was far in advance of his interlocutors and of his
contemporaries generally, — will not escape the read
er's consideration, nor fail to excite his enthusiastic
approval. It is also sufficiently apparent from
what we have quoted, that the magistrates were
morbidly jealous of all conventicles, lest they were
only seditious conferences under a mask. It is fur
ther apparent, that the only object of this examina
tion was to worm from the prisoner information
of the principles and secret doings of the Separat
ists. Quaere, If, at the time, Mr. Penry was noto
riously reputed and supposed to be Martin Mar-
prelate, how are we to account for the fact that
neither upon this occasion, nor during his prosecu
tion, was a question asked, or a word said, of that
detested writer ?
It was intended to try Mr. Penry upon an in
dictment under the Act 23 Eliz., Cap. II., " Against
seditious words and rumors uttered against the
Queen " ; and to rely upon the books which had
been published in Penry's name to sustain the in
dictment.1 Against this proceeding he framed a
Declaration, drawn with such legal ability and ac
curacy, that an argument at law was apprehended
by which the indictment might be quashed. The
Court therefore set aside " his printed books," and
indicted him, under the same Statute, for Papers
not printed ; those secret and crude Papers found
in his study.2 He was arraigned on the twenty-
1 Strype's Annals, VH. 246 ; cap- The " Declaration " of Penry is
tion to No. CXVI. in Strype's Whitgift, pp. 412, 413.
2 Strype's Whitgift, 410, 412. In the common acceptation of the
Neal, I. 204. Brook, II. 52, 59, 60. word, a pamphlet is a printed sheet
Hanbury, I. 78. stitched together, but not bound.

Ch. XV.]

EXECUTIONS.

535

first day of May. Only the counsel for the Crown
being heard, a conviction was speedily obtained.1
"The case is most lamentable," — they are the only
words approaching to complaint which we find from
his pen, — " the case is most lamentable, that the
private observations of a student, wishing well to his
prince and country, should bring his life unto a
violent end."2 On the twenty-fifth day of May
sentence of death was formally pronounced.3
It was generally supposed that Mr. Penry would
have been executed on the next day, according to
the custom in such cases. But as this was de
layed through the second and third days, " the
people expected a respite." 4 On the twenty-ninth

Hence the following language of Mr.
Hallam (p. 124) may seem to con
flict with my statement. " The au
thors of Martin Mar-prelate could
not bo traced with certainty ; but
strong suspicions having fallen on
one Penry, ho was tried some time
after for another pamphlet contain
ing sharp reflections upon the queen
herself." In giving a description of tho
Papers for which Penry was ac
tually indicted, I have repeatedly
cited, and sometimes quoted, his
" Protestation " ; a Paper sent to
Lord Burleigh on tho 22d of May
(Strype's Whitgift, 414), when tho
writer " looked not to live the week
to an end." (Ibid., Append., p.
180.) Mr. Hallam very justly re
marks (p. 125, note): "Penry's
Protestation is in a style of the most
affecting and simple eloquence. It
is a striking contrast to the coarse
abuse for which he suffered." But
this " coarse abuse " was nowhere
apparent in any of his published writ

ings. None of them corresponded
in stylo or spirit with that — a
transcript of other men's opinions
and words — for which ho suffered.
I think it evident, therefore, that
Mr. Hallam intended to designate
the samo unpublished writings upon
which I have alleged his prosecution
to have been based.
No Papers, printed or not printed,
known to have been tho expressions
of Penry's own mind, were charac
terized by "coarse abuse.'" The
keen, rough, irritating satire of
Martin Mar-prelate is utterly for
eign to his character. Witness his
temperate, respectful language dur
ing his examination.
1 Neal, I. 204. Waddington's
Penry, 185.
' Strype's Whitgift, 413.
3 Wood's Atbente. I. 597. Wad
dington's Penry, 203.
4 Wood's Athens, I. 597. Wad
dington's Penry, 203, note. Col
lier, VH. 178.

536 EXECUTIONS. [Ch. XV
day of the month, however, his death-warrant was
signed, first of aU, by John, Archbishop of Canter
bury ; then, by the Lord Keeper Puckering and
Chief Justice Popham. It was immediately sent to
the sheriff, who forthwith ordered the erection of
a gallows at the place of execution for the county
of Surrey, near a brook dedicated in olden time
to Thomas-a-Becket, and hence called St. Thomas's
Watering. While the convict was at dinner, he
was informed that he must die that day ; an an
nouncement by which he was not surprised, and
for which he was fully prepared. Thus suddenly,
when the people were not expecting it, and "in a
close manner," — for fear of a tumult, — he was
carried forth at five o'clock in the afternoon. Only
a few people were gathered, — those who had been
attracted by the erection of the gallows. He was
hastily swung off, the sheriff peremptorily deny
ing his request that he might declare " his faith
toward God and his allegiance to her Majesty." x
Thus, and on such pretences, was this loyal sub
ject and devoted Christian translated to heaven
when but thirty-three years of age ; leaving to
poverty and God " his desolate widow, and his mess
of fatherless and friendless orphans."
" By the death of him, Udal, and Barrow," says
the Oxford historian, " the neck of the plots of the
fiery non-conformists was broken, and their brags
turned into preaching of prayers and tears as the
only means for Christian subjects."2 To which a
1 Stow, 766. Wood's Athens, 65. Waddington's Penry, 203 and
I. 597. Heylin's Presb., Book IX. note, 204.
Sec. 31. Neal, L 205. Brook n. ! Wood's Athense, I. 597.

Oh. XV.] EXECUTIONS. 537
modern historian and Churchman replies: "It is
more certain that they concealed their grief and
nourished their hatred; and that the next genera
tion took, for this and other enormities, a terrible
and equally wicked revenge." x Yet it is certain
that these non-conformists had had no " plots " to be
broken; and we have yet to find the first indica
tion of their "hatred." Whatever may have been
the spirit and behavior of the Independents of
"the next generation," through the many Papers
— even the most confidential — which came from
the hands of Penry and his brethren, we find only
the spirit of meekness, of patience, of steadfastness,
and of loyal attachment to their queen, — "our noble
queen," they styled her, " who doth plentifully daily
imitate the mercy of our Heavenly Father." 2
The reader may perhaps wonder that such men
as Udal, Greenwood, Barrow, and Penry should
have been judged guilty of seditious and felonious
libels against their sovereign, by the verdict of an
English jury. On this point we cite the following
words. " There is no room to wonder at any ver
dict that could be returned by a jury, when we
consider what means the government possessed of
securing it. The sheriff returned a panel, either
according to express directions, — of which we have
proofs,8 — or to what he judged himself of the
crown's intention and interest. If a verdict had
gone against the prosecution in a matter of mo
ment, the jurors must have laid their account
1 Marsden, 184. 8 See Lodge, H. No. LXIV. ; p.
* Waddington's Penry, 258 ; Me- 74 ; III. p. 50.
morial of Church to Lord Mayor.
vol. m. 68

538 EXECUTIONS. [Ch. XV.
with appearing before the Star-Chamber, lucky if
they should escape, on humble* retractation, with
sharp words, instead of enormous fines and indefi
nite imprisonment. The control of this arbitrary
tribunal bound down and rendered impotent all
the minor jurisdictions. That primeval institution,
those inquests by twelve true men, the unadulter
ated voice of the people, responsible alone to God
and their conscience, which should have been heard
in the sanctuaries of justice, as fountains springing
fresh from the lap of earth, became, like waters
constrained in their course by art, stagnant and
impure. Until this weight that hung upon the
Constitution should be taken off, there was liter
ally no prospect of enjoying with security those
civil privileges which it held forth."1
John Cotton, in his answer to Boger Williams in
1647, says : " I have received it from Mr. Hilder-
sham, a man of a thousand, that Penry did ingen
uously acknowledge before his death that, though
he had not deserved death for any dishonor put
upon the queen by that book found in his study
and intended by himself to be presented to her
own hand, nor by the compiling of Martin Mar-
prelate, [of both -which he tuas falsely charged,2) yet
he confessed he deserved death at the queen's
hand for that he had seduced many of her loyal
subjects to a separation from hearing the Word
of life in the parish churches. Which, though him
self had learned to discover the evil thereof, yet he
could never prevail to recover divers of her subjects
1 Hallam, 139. a See ante, p. 305.

Ch. XV.J EXECUTIONS. 539
whom he had seduced; and therefore the blood of
their souls was now justly required at his hands." J
To show the error of Mr. Hildersham's words, — if
Meed they are his words, — we oppose those of Penry
himself, written in immediate view of death. " Nei
ther I," said he in a Paper which he gave to his in
quisitors at the close of his examination, " neither I
nor any other that hold the same with me deserve
the shortening of our days by her Majesty's sword." 2
In his last letter, only five days before his death,
"To the distressed and faithful congregation of
Christ in London," anticipating, for reasons which
will appear in our next chapter, that " banishment
with loss of goods was likely to betide them," Mr.
Penry urged that all should go into exile together,
the better conditioned and the poorer, so that the
latter might be aided and comforted by the former
"in the land of strangers, and not be forced to
stay behind and to break a good conscience for want
of support and kindness." 8 " I humbly beseech you,"
he added, "that you would take my poor desolate
widow and my mess of fatherless and friendless
orphans with you into exile  I beseech you,
let them not continue after you in this land, ivhcre
they must be enforced to go again into Egypt? 
I would wish you earnestly — yea, to send if you
may — to comfort the brethren in the west and
north counties, that they faint not in these troubles.
 Yea, I would wish you and them to be to
gether, if you may, whithersoever you shall be ban
ished." 5
1 Wood's Athena), I. 598. 4 Ibid., 174, 175.
' Waddington's Penry, 276. 6 Ibid., 17G.
' Ibid., 174.

540 EXECUTIONS. [Ch. XV.
In his farewell letter to his wife he says : -¦ My be
loved, continue a member of that holy society where
of you and I am  Keep yourself, my good
Helen, here with this poor church  Keep
our poor children with you, that they be brought
up with some of the Church with bread and water,
rather than to be clad in gold with any 
that yield obedience unto Antichristian ordinances.1
 Will you or my dear children join with
the corruptions that are dyed with your husband's
and father's blood?"2 To his children: "Whatso
ever becometh of you in outward regard, keep your
selves in this poor church, or in some other holy
society of the saints  Have you nothing to
do with the ordinances and inventions of Anti
christ's kingdom  such as Lord Archbishops,
Archdeacons, Chancellors, Prebends, Spiritual Courts,
and the mingling of the clean and unclean 
Of such inventions, mingled with the truth, doth the
Man of Sin consist. Now, my dear daughters, you
and all others, the members of Christ, are bound not
to have any felloivship with the ordinances of such
abomination." 3
With such evidence before us, we are author
ized to pronounce Mr. Hildersham's statement a
grand mistake. Excepting the few whom " dungeons,
irons, close prison torment, and want of means to
maintain their families, had caused to make ship
wreck of a good conscience,"4 not only Penry, but
Barrow, Greenwood, and all their compeers, — low-
ldy, yet magnificently, in advance of all others of
1 Waddington's Penry, 128, 130, • Ibid, 137, 140.
132. * Ibid., 267; Memorial of the
* l"bi(L, 135. Church to the Lord Mayor.

Ch. XV. | EXECUTIONS. 541
their day, — were true to the last to their prin
ciples as Separatists ; were persistent assertors of
THE RIGHT TO WORSHIP GoD ACCORDING TO THE DICTATES
OP THEIR OWN CONSCIENCES.
It happened — we know not how — that Queen
Elizabeth was disquieted by these executions. " Tell
me," said she to Dr. Eainolds,1 "what you think
of those two men, Henry Barrow and John Green
wood." -- It cannot avail anything to show your Majesty
my poor judgment, seeing they be put to death."
'¦ Nay, Doctor ; but you have an opinion."
" Troth, my liege lady ! But to utter it, — cut
lorn?" "Princes may hide their opinions and purposes
from their subjects ; not subjects from their princes.
Qui bono ! That is for me to judge ; and I charge
you on your allegiance, sir, tell me your mind of
those men."
"Your Highness must be obeyed." He then
added impressively, " I be persuaded in my soul,
had they lived they would have been two as worthy
instruments for the Church of God as have been
raised up in this age."
Her Majesty sighed, and said no more. After
wards, riding in Hyde Park, whence the place of
their execution came in sight, she was again re
minded of them ; and, turning to the Earl of Cum
berland, who was of her suite and had been present
when they suffered, she asked him, "What end
made they?" 1 Ante, Chap. IX.

542 EXECUTIONS. [Cn. XV.
" A very godly end ; and prayed for your Majesty
and the State."
The queen Avas the more disturbed, and betook
herself to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
" What, in your very conscience, think you of
those two men, Barrow and Greenwood ? "
" I think, your Highness, that they were the ser
vants of God, but dangerous to the State."
"Alas!" replied her Majesty, "shall we put the
servants of God to death ! "
Henceforth her mind was changed ; so that during
her reign care was taken that no more Protestants
should be put to death for their religion.1
The queen knew that these men had been in
dicted, tried, convicted, and sentenced by due pro
cess of law. But that she in any wise sought their
prosecution, stimulated the Courts to their convic
tion, or dreamed of any good reason why the law
should not have its course, we do not believe.
The conversations which we have just cited sus
tain our opinion in part. Her reply to the Arch
bishop, particularly, was not only a withering rebuke
of the monstrous solecism which he uttered, but
an honest lament over the dead.
Barrow himself had faith to the last in her
" princely clemency, rare virtue, and Christian care
of her faithful subjects," himself and his brother
Greenwood not excepted. After their second re
prieve, he expressed his firm belief that, as she had
" of her own accord and singular wisdom twice
1 Morton, 339, 340. Pierce, 147. Penry's execution, although his
Neal, I. 202. Brook, II. 42. Han- name does not appear to have been
bury, I. 61, 62. These conversa- mentioned.
tions seem to have occurred after

Ch. XV] EXECUTIONS. 543
staid the execution of their rigorous sentence, even
before she knew their innocence, so she, who had
never desired, and loathly shed, the blood of her
greatest enemies, would freely and fully pardon
their execution, being her loyal, Christian, and inno
cent subjects, especially if her Majesty might be truly
informed of the things that had passed." 1 Such,
too, was the belief of the suffering church of the
Separatists. " We speak," said they, " of her Ma
jesty's imitation of God in mercy ; in which some
may consider us liars or flatterers. But we are per
suaded that their reprieve " — that of Barrow and
Greenwood — "was in mercy; and that their execu
tion soon after was rather importuned and hastened
by others, than easily consented unto by her Grace,
— for hath she not always been merciful to her
veriest enemies ? Therefore, hereupon it fell out." 2
Penry also, after his sentence of death, expressed
the same sentiments. •• I am assured that, if her
Majesty  may understand the uprightness of
my cause in any sort, one hair of my head shall not
"perish" 3
Who, then, was guilty of the blood of Barrow,
Greenwood, and Penry ? As we have stated, Mr.
Barrow predicted, more than two years before
the prediction was verified, that the Archbishop.
was resolved upon his death and Greenwood's. If
we may credit the words of the Bishop of Lon
don, in a Paper written by order of his Grace, it
was coolly planned by these two prelates, under
1 Barrow to the Countess  . ' Strype's Whitgift, Appendix,
1 Waddington's Pcnry, 258, note ; p. 179.
Memorial of Church to Lord Mayor.

544 EXECUTIONS. [Ch. XV.
advice from both Chief Justices, to prosecute these
" sectaries according to the course of common law "
— the bishops wishing to avert the odium from
themselves — if they should not recant ; coolly
planned also to worm from them opinions, " under
pretence of charitable Christian conference," which
might be used, should occasion require, to facilitate
and insure their conviction.1 And if we may credit
Mr. Barrow, the prelates themselves had procured
their indictment2 under that elastic, fatal Statute of
23 Elizabeth which was originally intended to bear
only upon the Papists.3 These steps having been
taken, conviction procured, and sentence pronounced,
access to her Majesty's mercy-seat was so rigidly
guarded that even a poor widow was imprisoned
for conniving at a petition for Penry's comfort ;
the Master of Bequests was suborned to suppress
all supplications to her Highness ; and " false in
formations and suggestions " were whispered in her
ears against these and all other prisoners eccle
siastical.4 In all the affairs of ecclesiastical offenders
or convicts, we know that the influence of the
Archbishop in the Council-chamber, whence ema
nated all reprieves, and where all orders for execu
tions were controlled, was so adverse to mercy as
to baffle, disgust, and discourage the Lord Treas
urer himself. We know* that when the House of
Commons frowned upon a bill making it " felony
to maintain any opinions against the ecclesiastical
government," — a bill pressed by the bishops, with
1 Ante, p. 501, note 5. wright to Lady Kussel. Wadding-
! Barrow to the Countess  . ton's Penry, 246 ; Cartwright and
3 Ante, Vol. H p 193. others to Burleigh. Ibid., 249;
4 Strype's Annals, VII. 70 ; Cart- Barrow to Fisher.

Ch. XV.l EXECUTIONS. 545
Canterbury at their head, — the very next day
after the opposition became known, early in the
morning, Mr. Barrow and Mr. Greenwood were
"trussed up." We know that thereupon it became
the general opinion, that " their execution proceed
ed of malice of the bishops" — Canterbury able to
command a death-warrant, — "to spite the nether
House." We know that the Archbishop was fore
most to sign the death-warrant of Penry, and that
he justified the execution of the others. And finally,
we know that it was then the universal opinion,
that " the bishops and the High Commissioners
were at the bottom of all these proceedings."1
When we group all these facts, and keep in re
membrance his dominant influence within his own
department in the Council-chamber, we think we
have more than strong presumptive evidence that,
had it not been for the perverted conscience, the
blind policy, and the monstrous ethics of Whit
gift, had his " little finger " made one sign of mercy,
these men would not so have died. We are forced
to the conviction, that the one chiefly responsible
for their blood was the very man who pronounced
them "Servants of God." 1 Neal, I. 205.

VOL. III. 6!>

CHAPTEE XVI.
THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3.
Death of the Lord Chancellor Hatton. — The Great Seal committed
to Sib John Puckering as " Lord Keeper." — Meeting of Parliament.
— Opening Speech of the Lord Keeper. • — His Reply to the Petitions
of the Speaker. — Peter Wentworth. — He and others imprisoned. —
James Morrice ; his Treatise against the High Court of Commission.
— Introduces the same Subject to the Consideration of the Com
mons. — Debate upon it. — The Queen's Message concerning it. —
Morrice committed to Prison. — Motion to petition for Release of
imprisoned Members. — Bill for reducing disloyal Subjects to their
due Obedience. — Debate upon it. — Passed with Amendments. —
An Abstract of the Bill. — A Bill against Popish Recusants. — The
Queen's Speech at the Close of Parliament. — Mr. Cartwright re
leased from Prison — No more Separatists executed. — The Queen
orders their Deliverance from Prison. — New Imprisonments.—
Banishment and voluntary Exile. — Indecent Violence of Chief
Justice Anderson. — The Lull of Religious Persecution. — Puritan
ism turns aggressive.
The romantic passion of Hatton for Queen Eliza
beth1 received a rude shock when she suddenly
instituted legal proceedings against him for the
immediate recovery of forty-two thousand pounds
due to the royal exchequer. This went to his
heart; and, on the 20th of September, in the fifty-
first year of his age, he died under the combined
influence of disease and "grief of mind."2 In the
following June, the Great Seal was committed to
the custody of Sir John Puckering, " with the
1 Ante, Vol. I. p. 464, note. Hatton, 498. Lord Campbell's
a Camden, 458. D'Ewes, 456. " Lives of the Chancellors," (Phila-
Fullers Worthies, II. 508. Life of delphia, 1847,) II. 135.

Ob. XVI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF, 1593-3. 517
lower rank of Lord Keeper." 1 It devolved, there
fore, upon him to open the Parliament which met,
according to the royal summons, on Monday, Feb
ruary 19th, 1592-3.2
Those returned for the lower House, having taken
the usual oath before the Lord Steward (the Earl
of Derby) and his deputies,3 as required by law,4
upon notice that the queen and the Lords awaited
them in the upper House, repaired thither. The
Lord Keeper in his opening speech dwelt largely
upon "the great malice of the king of Spain to
wards the realm " ; who, having been balked in his
farmer attempt at invasion, was preparing ships
for the same purpose, "of a less bulk and after
another fashion," and had also "wrought most of
the nobility of Scotland to conspire against their
king, to give landing to his forces there, and to
assist him in his invasion thither." He added, that
her Majesty, for the proper defence of her. realm
against these intents and machinations, had not
only exhausted her exchequer, but had " caused a
part of her Highness's crown to be sold " ; and that
therefore it was incumbent upon her subjects to
devise means to "assist her Majesty in such an
insupportable charge." 5 In conclusion : " Her Ma
jesty further hath willed me to signify unto you,
that the calling of this Parliament now is not for
the making of any new laws and statutes, — for
there are already a sufficient number both of ec-
1 Camden, 458. Stow, 765. Camp- * D'Ewes, 468.
bell (II. 155) says May. * 5 Eliz., Cap. I. Sec. XHL
* D'Ewes, 456, 468. Townshend's 8 D'Ewes, 457.
Historical Collections, SI (London,
1680).

548 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1502-3. [Ch. XVI
clesiastical and temporal  Wherefore it is her
Majesty's pleasure that the time be not spent
therein. But the principal cause of this Parliament
is, that her Majesty might consult with her sub
jects for the better withstanding of those intended
invasions, which are now greater than were ever
heretofore heard of. And whereas heretofore it
hath been used that many have delighted them
selves in long orations, full of verbosity and of
vain ostentations, more than in speaking things of
substance." — it is her will that "  the good
hours should not be lost in idle speeches, but 
be bestowed wholly upon such businesses as are
needful to be considered of.1 [You are especially
commanded by her Majesty to take heed that no
ear be given, nor time afforded, to the weari
some solicitations of those that commonly be called
Puritans, wherewith all the late Parliaments have
been exceedingly importuned ; which sort of men,
whilst that (in the giddiness of their spirits) they
labor and strive to advance a new eldership, they
do nothing else but disturb the good repose of
the Church and Commonwealth, which is as well
grounded for the body of religion itself, and as
well guided for the discipline, as any realm that
confesseth the Truth. And the same thing is al
ready made good to the world by many of the
writings of godly and learned men, neither an
swered nor answerable by any of these new-fan
gled refiners. And as the present case standeth,
it may be doubted whether they or the Jesuits
do offer more danger, or be more speedily to be
1 D'Ewes, 458. Townshend, 32, 33. Hansard, I. 858, 859.

Cn. XVLr THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 549
repressed. For albeit the Jesuits do empoison the
hearts of her Majesty's subjects, under pretext
of conscience, to withhold them from their due
obedience to her Majesty, yet they do the same
but closely and in privy corners. But these men
do both teach and publish in their printed books,
and teach in all their conventicles, sundry opinions
not only dangerous to a well-settled estate and the
policy of the realm, by putting a pike x between
the clergy and the laity ; but also much deroga
tory to her sacred Majesty and her crown, as well
by diminution of her ancient and lawful revenues
and by denying her Highness's prerogative and
supremacy, as by offering peril to her Majesty's
safety in her own kingdom. In all which things
(however in other points they pretend to be at war
with the Popish Jesuits) yet by this separation of
themselves from the unity of their fellow-subjects,
and by abasing the sacred authority and majesty
of their prince, they do both join and concur with
Jesuits in opening the door and preparing the
way to the Spanish invasion that is threatened
against the realm. And thus, having according to
the weakness of my best understanding delivered
her Majesty's royal pleasure and wise direction,
I rest there ; with humble suit of her Majesty's
most gracious pardon in supplying my defects, and
recommend you to the Author of all good coun
sel."]2 1 Sic. Quere, piquet Hansard. Lloyd, from whom I
1 Lloyd, 607, 608. quote it, says that it was delivered
The part of this Speech which by Sir John Puckering in the House
I have enclosed in brackets is not to of Lords in the year 1588. It is
be found in D'Ewes, Townshend, or indeed true that he was in the

550

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3.

[Ch. XVI

The Commons elected Edward Coke, her Majes
ty's Solicitor-General, as their Speaker ; and on
Thursday his election was ratified by her Majesty's
"allowance."1 In reply to his petitions for liberty
of speech, for freedom from arrests, and for access
to her Majesty, the Lord Keeper said : —
"To your three demands the queen answereth,
liberty of speech is granted you; but how far, this
is to be thought on. There be two things of most
necessity, and those two do most harm, — Wit and
Speech ; the one exercised in invention ; the other
uttering things invented. Privilege of speech is

House of Lords during that session
of the Parliament ; and that on the
tenth day of February, and on the
fifteenth, he was appointed on two
different committees. But he was
there as an " attendant, but not a
member," and was only one of joint
committees with the Lords, — a
thing " very usually done in Parlia
ments foregoing the queen's reign."
(D'Ewes, 422, 423.) In correspond
ence with this, we find it also stated
incidentally, that, at the opening of
the Parliament of 1592-3, the Com
mons were received into the upper
House by " her Highness, with di
vers of the Lords spiritual and tem
poral, and such others as had place
there." (Ibid., 469.) Other cases
of " mere attendants upon the upper
House" are recorded by D'Ewes,
pp. 142, 143, 198, 199, 201, 317.
But although Puckering was in
the House of Lords in the session
of 1588-9, and served there on
committees, he could not have de
livered then and there such a speech
as is attributed to him by Lloyd, for

it is evidently befitting only one
upon whom devolved the duty of
opening a Parliament. This duty
did not devolve upon Puckering
until this session of 1592-3 ; and
never devolved upon him again, for
he died in 1596, before another Par
liament. I have therefore disre
garded the date given by Lloyd,
and have inserted the Speech which
Lloyd records, as a part of that
which Puckering " delivered in the
House of Lords " at the opening of
this Parliament of 1592-3.
It is evident that Puckering, and
probably the queen, confounded
the school of Cartwright with that
of Barrow ; for the former never
had held " conventicles," nor did
they " separate themselves from the
unity of their fellow-subjects" in
the Church ; while they only — and
not the latter — sought the " dimi
nution of the queen's lawful " —
legal — " revenues " of tenths and
first-fruits. 1 D'Ewes, 459, 469. Townshend,
34-36,53

CH.XVI.J THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 551
granted. But you must know what privilege you
have, — not to speak every one what he listeth, or
what cometh in his brain to utter ; but your privi
lege is to say Yea or No. Wherefore, Mr. Speaker,
her Majesty's pleasure is, That, if you perceive any
idle heads which will not stick to hazard their own
estates, which will meddle with reforming of the
Church and transforming of the Commonwealth, and
do exhibit any bills to such purpose, you receive
them not, until they be viewed and considered
of by those whom it is fitter should consider of
such things, and can better judge of them. To
your persons all privilege is granted, with this ca
veat, That, under color of this privilege, no man's
ill-doings or not performing of duties be covered
and protected. Free access is also granted to her
Majesty's person, so that it be upon urgent and
weighty causes and at times convenient, and when
her Majesty may be at leisure from other impor
tant causes of the realm." 1
The first person who threw himself into collision
with these insulting restrictions was the immortal
Peter Wentworth. Determined to assert practically
the right of saying something more than Yea or
No, and again braving arrest and imprisonment,
he presented to the House "a Petition," addressed
"to the Lord Keeper, therein desiring the Lords
of the upper House to be suppliants with them of
the lower House unto her Majesty, for entailing
the succession of the crown " ; for which object
he had a bill in readiness. In this he was second
ed by Sir Henry Bromley. On the previous day
1 Townshond, 87, 38. D'Ewes, 460.

552 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Ch. XVL
— Friday — the business of the House had been
intermitted by the queen's order ; so that this was
the first step taken in their proceedings, except
the reading of a single bill, after the election of
their Speaker.1 No resolution could be regularly
taken, the Speaker being detained by sickness;
yet the proposition seems to have received the
assent of the House.2 A committee had been
previously appointed to consider this subject of the
succession, — a committee of the " wise, grave, and
ancient members." A few of them only had met;
but they had appointed one of their number to
draft a petition, and to sustain it when presented
to the House. Through timidity, probably, he had
failed ; 3 and Mr. Wentworth had stood in the gap.
The queen was much incensed at a proceeding
which was " contrary to her former strait com
mandment," and upon a matter touching which she
had always been exceedingly sensitive. By her
order Mr. Wentworth, Sir Henry Bromley, and two
others who had been privy to the matter, were
on the same day commanded by the Privy Coun
cil to retire from the Parliament-House to their
private apartments. The next day, in the Council-
Chamber, the Lords treated them with marked
courtesy, but committed Mr. Wentworth to the
Tower and the others to the Fleet ; assuring them,
however, that they did so only upon compulsion
from her Majesty.4
But there were yet some members of the House

1 D'Ewes, 470. Townshend, 53, * Townshend, 54.
54. * D'Ewes, 470. Townshend, 54.
'- Carte, HL 644. Hansard, L 870, 871.

Ch. XVI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 553
who took their stand upon the right of free speech,
even concerning matters ecclesiastical ; undaunted
by the arrest and imprisonment of their colleagues.
James Morrice, an Attorney of the Court of Wards
and Chancellor of the Duchy Court (Lancaster),1
stimulated by the arbitrary proceedings of the Ec
clesiastical Commissioners against Mr. Cawdrey and
against Mr. Cartwright, had published a treatise,
showing that the Court had no authority, except
in causes of wills or of matrimony, to compel any
oath ; and particularly that such compulsion was
against the laws of the realm and the queen's
prerogative.2 Two days after the commitment of
Wentworth, he introduced the same subject to the
Commons, complaining that godly ministers were
wronged by the ecclesiastical judges in the way
of inquisition, subscription, and binding absolution ;
that is, absolving them from imprisonment only
on condition of bonds for their future behavior;3
or, perhaps, upon their taking a new oath of
canonical obedience ; 4 or both. These proceedings,
he said, were " contrary to the honor of God, the
regality of her Majesty, the laws of the realm, and
the liberties of the subject." He further charged,
that the said judges " did compel the ministers
upon their oaths to accuse themselves in their
own private actions, words, and thoughts; and upon
such self-accusation did deprive, degrade, or sus
pend them. Or, if they refused the oath, did com
mit them to prison." He therefore prayed the
1 Heylin's " Reformation," In- ' Heylin's Presb., Book IX. See.
traduction, p. 9; "Presb.," Book 21. Neal, I. 196. Ante, p. 398.
IX. Sec. 24. Strype's Whitgift, s Strype's Whitgift, 387.
886. * D'Ewes, 474.
VOL. m. 70

554 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Cb. XVI.
House " for a consultation to be had for redress
of such enormities, and offered to the Speaker two
bills ; the one concerning the said inquisitions, sub
scriptions, and offering of oaths ; the other concern
ing imprisonment for refusal of said oaths; reserv
ing the former for some more convenient season,
but praying that the latter might be read,"1 and
that, " if the House thought good to receive it,
they might be suitors to her Majesty to have it
allowed." This bill he delivered to the Speaker.2
Mr. Dalton, a lawyer noted for pleading and
counsel, and who " remained always very tight to
the bishops in the Parliament-House,"3 replied.
" This bill pretends great things in show," as though
they were things " tending to the hinderance of
God's service, the derogation of her Majesty's pre
rogative, the overthrow of our laws, and the violating
of our liberties  It is easy, in words, to make
a mountain out of a mole-hill, a great and danger
ous thing out of nothing. The State hath always
stood upon this government. The ecclesiastical gov
ernment is distinct from the temporal"; for all
of which words " he gave few or no reasons," say
the Journalists. " But my chief objection to this
bill, and my chief reason for its suppression, is, that
her Majesty hath commanded us not to meddle
with reformation in Church or State."4
In reply to Mr. Dalton and to Sir John Wolley,
who had also urged her Majesty's commandment,
Sir Francis Knollys said : " This bill is condemned
1 D'Ewes, 474. Hansard, I. 875, s Strype's Whitgift, 387.
876. 4 D'Ewes, 474. Townshend, 61.
* Townshend, 60. Hansard, I. 876.

Ca. XVI] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 555
as seeking the overthrow of a member of the State,
and thus against the law. But in my opinion it
tendeth only to the reforming of abuses and re
straining of the prelates. If they meddle against
the laws, they will incur a prcemunire. In mine
opinion, the bill be good and fit to be read." 1
Thus was the ball tossed to and fro. The civilians
on the one side, taking the part of the bishops,2
asserted that " inquisition was lawful, because it had
ken so long used; that subscription was a thing to
which the clergy were bound by statute; and that
binding absolution was none other than was re
quired by the common law." On the other side,
the Puritans, dealing for the legitimate rights of
the subject and upon the principles of common
sense, retorted that "the ancient Charter of the
realm was flatly violated " — as indeed it was —
" by the jurisdiction of the bishops ; that the usage
of antiquity was as good an argument for the law
fulness of inquisition as it was for the lawfulness
of thieves' taking purses on Shooter's Hill, because
time out of mind they had done so ; that the sub
scription required by the statute was a subscrip
tion to certain articles of religion, but not a sub
scription in this form," — i. e. to articles arbitrarily
drawn up by the Archbishop ; and that " there
was no such oath of absolution required by the
common law " as was required by the Ecclesiastical
Courts. Mr. Beal also, the Clerk of the Council, an old
and determined antagonist of the Archbishop,8 ar-
1 D'Ewes. Hansard. * Ante, Vol. H. pp. 411-417.
1 Strype's Whitgift, 389. Vol. IH. p. 20.

556 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Cn. XVI
gued that " the bishops had incurred a prcemunire
because the Statute 13 Elizabeth required sub
scription to articles of faith only,  and that
no councils or canons gave authority to them to
frame articles and require subscription at their
pleasure." For this, and '• for making some objec
tions to the subsidy bill, he was commanded to
absent himself from the Parliament." l
After some deliberation, the bill, without being
read, was left with the Speaker ; he pledging his
word that he would keep it with all secrecy.2 The
next day he announced that her Majesty, without
requiring of him the bill itself, had demanded to
be informed of its substance ; and that, when he
had stated the same, she had charged him to de
clare unto the House, and in her name, •'¦' That
it w*as in her power to call and to end Parlia
ments, and to assent to or dissent from their doings ;
 that she wondered that any could be of
so high commandment to attempt a thing so ex
pressly contrary to that which she had forbidden,
— meddling with matters of state or causes eccle
siastical ;  and that she now renewed the
words which she had spoken by the Lord Keeper,
 that no bill be exhibited touching the same."
The Speaker concluded by saying, that her Ma
jesty had also commanded him upon his allegiance
not to read any such bill if exhibited.3
Before this message was debvered, Mr. Morrice
had been " sent for to the Court, and thence com-
1 Strype's 'Whitgift, 391. Neal, ' D'Ewes, 478, 479. Townshend
I. 197. 62, 63.
'¦ D'Ewes, 476. Hansard, L 878.

Ch. XVI.1

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3.

557

mitted unto the keeping of Sir John Fortescue,
Chancellor of the Exchequer."1 The next day he
wrote to the Lord Treasurer, attributing the mild
ness of his restraint to his lordship's -•' good-will
and favor."2 Burleigh's son Eobert was also his

1 Hansard, I. 889. Townshend,
61. Heylin says (Hist. Presb., Book
IX. Sec. 24) that he was arrested
" on the delivery of the message."
But the message was delivered at the
close of the day's session (D'Ewes,
478), and Mr. Morrice was sum
moned to the court " in the morn
ing, and thence committed." But
Heylin adds, "Morrice is said to
have been seized in the House by
o serjeant-at-arms ; but howsoever
leized," &c. It will be perceived
that Heylin gives his authority, —
Rumor ; and does not rely upon it
himself. Hume, overlooking this,,
states positively that Morrice " was
Beizedin the House itself" (III. 190) ;
an outrage upon which, I think,
even Elizabeth would not have
ventured. So say Neal, Lingard,
and Marsden ; tacitly charging the
House of Commons with a pusilla
nimity of which they were not guil
ty. We must .give preference to
the more probable and contradic
tory statement of Townshend, who
was himself a member of the House.
D'Ewes does not even mention the
arrest. 1 From this letter I give such ex
tracts as throw light upon the repu
tation of the prelates, and upon the
annoyances to which the Commons
were sometimes capriciously sub
jected. " Right Honorable and very good
Lord, .... I had thought that the

judges ecclesiastical, being charged
in the great Council of the realm
to be dishonorers of God and of her
Majesty, violators of law and public
justice, and wrong-doers unto the
liberties and freedoms of all of her
Majesty's subjects, by their extorted
oaths, wrongful imprisonments, lawless
subscription, and unjust absolutions,
would rather have sought means to
be cleared of this weighty accusa
tion than to shroud themselves under
the suppressing of the complaint
and shadow of mine imprisonment.
" There is fault found with me
.... in that I preferred this cause
before the matters delivered by her
Majesty were determined. My good
lord, to have stayed so long, I verily
think had been to come too late.
Bills of assize of bread, shipping of
fish, pleadings, and such like, may
be offered and received into the
House, and no offence to her Majes
ty's royal commandment (being but
as the tithing of mint) ; but the
great causes of the law and public
justice may not be touched without
offence 1 Well, my good lord, be
it so. Yet I hope her Majesty and
you of her Privy Council will at
length thoroughly consider of these
things, lest, as where heretofore we
prayed, ' From the tyranny of the
Bishop of Kome, good Lord, deliver
us 1 ' we be compelled to say,
' From the tyranny of the clergy of
England, good Lord, deliver us.' "
(Lodge, III. 34 - 36.)

558

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3.

[Cn. XVI.

friend. So was the young Earl of Essex, the
queen's favorite and the great patron of the Puri
tans.1 It was probably owing to the influence of
these friends at court that Morrice was set at lib
erty after a few months, and thenceforth was so con
ditioned as to be propounded to the queen for the
high preferment of her Attorney-General.2
No action was attempted in behalf of the im
prisoned members of the House until the tenth
day of March, when a motion was made, that
the House should be humble suitors to her Ma
jesty that she would be pleased to set them at
liberty. Against this, it was strongly urged by all
the Privy Councillors who were of the House, that
such a suit might operate against the early' re
lease of the imprisoned members ; her Majesty

1 Birch, I. 74. Heylin's Presb.,
Book IX. Sec. 1. Carte, III. 644.
a I must of course vindicate my
self in differing so widely and bold
ly from all other historical writers.
Heylin says that Morrice " was de
prived pf his office in the Duchy,
disabled from any practice in his
profession as a common lawyer, and
kept for some years in Tutbury
castle." Hume, Neal, Lingard, and
others, adopt Heylin's statement.
Hallam only says, that he " lay some
time in prison." (p. 128.)
My reason for regarding this
whole statement as a fable is to be
found in a letter of the Earl of
Essex to Anthony Bacon, Esq.,
written in October, 1593. After
stating that he had importuned,
though ineffectually, with her Majes
ty to appoint Mr. Francis Bacon
as her Attorney-General, he says :

".She bade me name any man of
worth whom others had not named.
I named Mr. Morrice, and gave him
his due. She acknowledged his gifts,
but said his speaking against her in
such a manner as he had done
should be a bar against any prefer
ment at her hands ; but seemed to
marvel that others had never thought
of him." (Birch, I, 126.)
Had Mr. Morrice at that time —
less than eight months after his
offence — been a prisoner of state,
and disabled from the practice of
his profession, such a proposition in
his behalf could not have been
made by the Earl ; much less would
the queen have used such language
in reply, or have marvelled as she
did. I therefore infer from this
paragraph in the Earl's letter that
Mr. Morrice was then at liberty, and
that he was yet in the practice of

Ch. XVI] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 559
preferring to act therein without prompting from
others.1 Whether this House lacked — Wentworth and his
fellows and Mr. Morrice being subtracted — the
same high spirit which distinguished that of 1571,
before which the queen gave way,2 or whether,
having a like spirit, they controlled it for pru
dential reasons to us unknown and not existing
in the former case, certain it is that they yielded
to the suggestions of the ministers, and prosecuted
the matter no further. It does not appear when
Mr. Wentworth and his fellow-offenders were re
leased ; but the latter — and doubtless himself —
were still •- stayed by her Majesty's commandment "
on the sixth day after the Parliament was dis
solved.8 In dismissing this affair, we have only to
remark, that Queen Elizabeth had owed Mr. Went/
worth a grudge for years ; that his name had ever
been in bad odor with the bishops ; that Mr.
Morrice had given offence to the Ecclesiastical Com
missioners by his bold and manly defence of Mr.
Cawdrey,4 and by his treatise against their prac
tices; that Mr. Beal had long been a thorn to the
law. My reader must judge of my ' Birch, I. 96 ; Mr. Anthony Ba-
inference. If I am correct, it is con to his mother, April 16th, 1593.
certainly unaccountable how Dr. Mr. Bacon's language does not
Heylin could have made such state- necessarily include Mr. Wentworth.
ments. " Divers gentlemen that were ofthe
Of course I retract a statement Parliament, and thought to have re
write, Vol. I. p. 151) which I adopted turned into the country after the
from Heylin before discovering the end there, are stayed by her Majes-
letter of Essex, — that Mr. Morrice ty's commandment for being privy,
was kept a prisoner till he died. as it is thought, and consenting to
1 D'Ewes, 497. Hansard, I. 871. Mr. Wentworth's matter."
Hallam, 153. 4 Strype's Aylmer, 131, 132, 143,
1 Ante, Vol. I. pp. 382 - 385. 144.

560 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Ch. XVI.
Archbishop ; and that they who had ventured to
sustain Mr. Morrice in the House — Sir Francis
Knollys and Mr. Oliver St. John — seem to have
escaped without even a reproof. Who, then, was
% at the bottom " of these displeasures ?
On the twelfth day of March, a bill " for re
ducing disloyal subjects to their due obedience"
had its first reading.1 It was a substitute for a
bill which seems to have originated in the upper
House on the twenty-fourth day of Februarv.2
The original bill, intensely cruel in its provisions,3
had been artfully framed as against '• Recusants in
general," 4 to compel them to the public worship
of God as established by law, and to restrain them
from worship in any other mode. Thus it had
the appearance of being levelled only against the
Papists.5 On the next day (March 13th). the new
bill had its second reading.6 A strong disposition
was now manifested, that it should unequivocally
embrace •'•' the Brownists and Barrowists, as well as
the Papists"; but the Speaker declared that, the
preamble and the body of the bill being compared,
only Popish recusants could be comprised therein,
but that another bill might be framed against other
recusants. Whereupon the bill was recommitted.7
On the thirty-first day of March, — while the mat
ter yet lingered in the hands of the committee, —
a bill of the same general purport was brought in
from the Lords " for the explanation of a branch

1 D'Ewes, 498. 4 D'Ewes, 500.
1 Ibid., 461. Townshend, 38. 6 Hansard, I. *63.
a D'Ewes, 4 76, 498. Townshend, « D'Ewe=, 499. Townshend, 70.
55. ' D'Ewes, 500. Hansard, L 863.

CH.XVL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 561
of a statute made in the twenty-third year of the
Queen's Majesty's reign, entitled, An Act to retain
the Queen's subjects in their due obedience."1
This bill, which seems to have been taken in lieu
of the recommitted bill,2 " made it felony to main
tain any opinions against the ecclesiastical govern
ment " ; 8 and also provided for banishment in certain
cases. Upon its second reading, it excited "divers
speeches " in opposition, -- some of them being of
very good moment."
" In my conceit," said Sir Walter Ealeigh, " the
Brownists are worthy to be rooted out of a com
monwealth. But what dangers may grow to our
selves if this law pass, it were fit to be considered.
lor it is to be feared, that men not guilty will be
included in it. And that law is hard that taketh
life and sendeth into banishment, where men's in
tentions shall be judged by a jury, and they shall
be judges what another means. But that law that
is against a fact is but just, and punish the fact
as severely as you will. If two or three thousand
Brownists meet at the sea, at whose charge shall
they be transported, or whither will you send
them? I am sorry for it, I am afraid there is
near twenty thousand of them in England ; and
when they be gone, who shall maintain their wives
and children?"
Mr. Finch objected most pertinently to several
points. "There be great faults in the preamble
and in the body of this bill. It pretendeth a pun
ishment only to the Brownists and sectaries ; but
1 D'Ewes, 513. * Phelipps to Sterrell.
1 Birch, I. 94.
VOL. in. 71

562 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Ch. XVT
throughout the whole bill not one thing that con-
cerneth a Brownist. If we make a law against
Barrowists and Brownists, let us set down a note
of them, who they are. But as the bill is, not to
come to church, or to speak against the govern
ment established, this is not the opinion of the
Brownists.1  This law, being allowed to be
an explanation of 23 Elizabeth, maketh all the of
fenders in that statute to be traitors. This law
excepts no person. So all are in the former penal
ties of that law ; for the twenty-third of Elizabeth
is only for such as are of the Eomish religion, and
now to make it include all the opinions is to
make additions to that, but no explanations." The
bill was then committed.2
It was at this juncture — so soon as it was
known that the bill which, " by the bishops' means,
did pass the upper House " was strongly opposed
and would probably be frustrated by the Com
mons — that order was given in the Council-Cham
ber, where the Archbishop ruled the fate of eccle
siastical offenders, for the execution of Barrow and
Greenwood. On the sixth day of April, — the day of their
death, — Sir Thomas Heneage, her Majesty's Vice-
Chamberlain, reported, in behalf of the committee,
that, after " long tarrying together, they had de
sisted without any determinable resolutions." He
1 " Not pecidiar to Brownists," although the Presbyterian Puritans
we must understand him to mean, did go to church, they certainly
Otherwise his words are inexpli- spake and wrote against the eccle-
cable ? for they did not come to siastical government established.
church, and did speak against its 2 D'Ewes, 517. Townshend, 76.
government. On the other hand,

Ch, XVI] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 5Q3
therefore moved that a conference be sought with
the Lords " for the better effecting of a convenient
law for meeting with the disordered Barrowists and
Brownists, without peril of entrapping honest and loyal
subjects" ; language corresponding remarkably with
that of the important letter of Phelipps to which we
have so often referred. The motion of the Vice-
Chamberlain was conceded ; 1 a conference was had
with the Lords ; the " additions, subtractions, and
alterations" propounded in committee were acced
ed to ; and on the seventh day of April the bill so
amended was passed in the lower House.2
From the complicated history of this bill, it is
evident that the bishops — probably to save them
selves from the odium of new prosecutions, and
the temporal courts from the odium of further
tortuous constructions of law — had in the original
bill set a deadly trap for all the Puritans; that his
Grace was provoked by the prospect of its defeat
to the sudden sacrifice of the two who were under
sentence of death; and that the bill received from
the Lords was most materially changed by the Pu
ritan Commons, who had no inclination to twine a
halter for their own necks, or to enact measures of
ultra barbarity against Protestant Separatists. We
give an abstract of the bill as it was finally passed
and enacted, suspending comment upon this action
of the lower House until we shall offer some consid
erations upon the general legislation of the Puritans.
"An Act to retain the Queen's subjects in obe
dience : —
" Sec. I  If any person above the age of
1 D'Ewes, 519. * Ibid., 520. Birch, I. 94.

564 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Ch XVI
sixteen years which shall obstinately refuse ....
to hear divine service established by her Majesty's
laws  shall, by printing, writing, or express
words,  purposely practise  to persuade
any  within her Highness's realms to deny,
withstand, and impugn her Majesty's authority in
causes ecclesiastical,  or to that end shall
advisedly and maliciously move or persuade any
other to abstain from coming to church to hear
divine service or to receive the communion ac
cording to her Majesty's laws, or to be present at
any unlawful conventicles under color of any ex
ercise of religion :  or, if any person which
shall obstinately refuse  as is aforesaid 
shall willingly be present at any such conventicles:
 even' such person so offending, and being
thereof lawfully convicted, shall be committed to
prison  until he shall conform and yield, 
and make such open declaration of such conform
ity as hereafter in this Act is appointed."
Sec. II. ordained that offenders convicted, but re
fusing for three months to conform, should abjure
the realm forever and depart therefrom ; and that
if any such offender should refuse to abjure, or
abjuring should refuse to depart, or after departure
should return without her Majesty's license, he
should suffer death as a felon.
Sec. HI. enacted that offenders making open sub
mission should be discharged from all penalties.
It also prescribed the form of submission.
Sec. IV. provided that offenders relapsing should
be punishable as before their submission.
Sec. V. enacted that any person harboring such

Ch. XvT.1 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 565
a recusant, after notice thereof to him given by
authority, should forfeit, for every such person so
harbored, ten pounds for every month of such
harboring. Sec. VI. provided that Sec. V. should not extend
to the harboring of recusants within certain degrees
of kindred, or to the harboring of any such com
mitted to the harborer by authority.
Sec. IX. provided that no Papist recusant or mar
ried woman should be bound to abjure.
Sec. X. ordained that every person abjuring or
refusing to abjure should forfeit goods and chattels
forever, and his landed rights and possessions
during his life ; but that the wife should not lose
her dower, that no corruption of blood should
ensue, and that after his death his landed rights
and possessions should revert to his heirs.
The Act concluded by a clause limiting it to
the end of the next session of Parliament. But
by the next Parliament it was renewed to remain
in force until the close of the Parliament succeed
ing (which was the last under Elizabeth), and by
that Parliament was again renewed.
Another Act was passed, — " An Act against Popish
Recusants." "For the better discovering and avoiding of all
such traitorous and most dangerous conspiracies,"
said the preamble, "as are devised and practised
against the Queen's Majesty and this Commonwealth
by sundry wicked and seditious persons, who — term
ing themselves Catholics, and being indeed spies
and intelligencers not only for her Majesty's foreign
enemies, but also for rebellious and traitorous sub-

566 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Cu. XVI.
jects,  and hiding their most detestable and
devilish purposes under a false pretext of religion
and conscience — do secretly wander and shift from
place to place,  to corrupt  her Ma
jesty's subjects and to stir them to sedition and
rebellion." Sec. I. enacted, That all subjects or denizens
above the age of sixteen years, being Popish recu
sants convict, should repair to their places of abode,
and not go five miles thence, on pain of forfeiting
their goods and the profits of their lands during
life. Sec. II. That those such, having no place of
abode, should repair to the places of their birth or
to the dwellings of their parents, and not remove
thence above five miles upon pain of the like
penalty. Sec. III. That every offender against the require
ments of this Act, who should have lands by copy
hold, should forfeit the same for life to the lord
of whom such lands were holden ; or to the queen,
if such lord were himself a recusant convict.
Sec. V. That offenders against the requirements
of this Act, not having lands or goods to a specified
amount, and refusing to conform, should abjure the
realm ; and refusing to abjure, or to depart having
abjured, should suffer death as felons.
Sec. VI. That any suspected Jesuit, or Seminary
priest, refusing to answer on examination, should
be imprisoned until true answer made.
'Sees. VII., VIII., IX. That recusants called to ap
pear by process of courts, by her Majesty's Coun
cil or Commissioners, or to yield their bodies to

Ch. XVI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 56V
a sheriff, beyond the bounds assigned, should be ex
empt for so doing from the penalties of this Act.
Sec. 'X. That offenders against this Act should
De discharged from its penalties upon making open
submission as herein described.
Sec. XI. That offenders relapsing should be pun
ishable as before submission.
Sec. XII. That women married should be sub
ject to this Act except as to abjuration.
At first view, the letter of the first Act would
seem to have comprised Popish recusants. But
when we find, in the history of its progress in
the lower House, that it was framed only against
Protestant Separatists, and that the Speaker ruled
that distinct bills should be brought in for each
class of recusants ; when we find also, that two
Acts were passed, the first " against seditious sec
taries and disloyal persons,"1 the second "against
Popish recusants"; and also, that the provision in
the latter Act for " restraining Popish recusants
convict to some certain places of abode " exempted
them from the imprisonment prescribed in the
former Act; and, still further, that in the first
Act was an express provision (Sec. IX.) exempting
Popish recusants from abjuration as therein re-
mired ; — we are fain to conclude that the Act
Chap. I. did not. apply in any of its parts, was
not intended to apply, and was never supposed
to apply, to the class of recusants against whom
other ordinances were passed by the twin-born Act
Chap. II. In other words, that the dealings or-
' Preamble to 35 Eliz. Cap. I. were always at that time confounded
"These two species of criminals together." (Hume, HI. 190.)

568 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-a . [Ch. XVI
dained against the Catholics were much more mer
ciful than those against the Separatists ; and that
the latter w*ould have thought themselves happy
could they have evaded banishment by keeping
within any five miles' area of their native land.
Against this opinion, however, is to be weighed
that of the highest authorities, — that the Act to
retain the queen's subjects in obedience " helped to
crush the unfortunate adherents to the Eomish
faith," " bearing equally hard upon the Puritans
and upon the Catholics."1
At the close of the session, after the Lord Keeper
had spoken, the queen herself addressed her Parlia
ment as follows : —
" My Lords, and you my Commons of the lower
House : Were it not that I know no  words
delivered by any substitute can be so deeply im
printed into your minds as spoken by myself, 
I could be content to spare speech whom silence
better pleaseth  Thus much I dare assure
you, that the care which you have taken for my
self, yourselves, and the common weal," in providing
a supply, " you have taken for a prince that neither
careth for any particular — no, nor life — but so
to live that you may flourish. For, before God, I
protest that the great expense of my time, the
labor of my studies, and the travad of my thoughts
1 Hallam, 129. Hume, ni. 191. provisions could not be enforced.
Neal, I. 205. Lingard, VTH. 321  One would gladly think that
Marsden, 204. the law was intended merely as an
Mr. Marsden remarks (p. 203), empty menace." Yet to a certain
speaking of the Act against the extent its provisions were enforced,
Separatists : " It is a mournful in- as I shall show. The law itself will
stance of panic legislation. Its fall under our review hereafter.

Ch. XVI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 669
chiefly tendeth to God's service and the govern
ment of you to live in a flourishing and happy
state. Many wiser princes than myself you have
had ; but (one only excepted whom in duty of a
child I must regard and to whom I must acknowl
edge myself far shallow) none whose love and care
 shall ever be found to exceed mine own;
in love, I say, toward you and care over you.1
"The king of Spain doth challenge me to be
the quarreller and the beginner of all these wars.
He doth me the greatest wrong; for  I am
persuaded in my conscience, if he knew what I
know, he would be sorry himself for the wrong he
hath done me. I fear not all his threatenings.
 I doubt not but (by God assisting me) I
shall be able to defeat and overthrow him ; for
my cause is just. I heard say when he attempted
his last invasion, that some upon the sea-coasts
forsook their towns, fled up higher into the coun
try, and left all naked and exposed to his entrance.
I swear unto you by God, if I knew those per
sons, or may know of any that shall do so here
after, I will make them know and feel what it is
to be so fearful in so urgent a cause. The sub
sidy you give me I accept thankfully, having it
of your good-will, and your preservation requiring
it." After the passing of bills, the Lord Keeper, by
her Majesty's commandment, dissolved the Parlia
ment.2 Very much more than "I and No" had been
1 Stow, 765, 766.
• D'Ewes, 466, 467. Townshend, 48, 49. Hansard, I. 892.
VOL. ni. 72

570 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Ch. XVI.
said during the session, notwithstanding the limit
set to free speech by her Majesty at the opening
of the Parliament.
By its own limitation, the Act against Puritan
recusants could take effect only upon such as
might offend, in .the particulars specified, " after
forty days after the end of this session of Parliament!'
Persons arrested on charge of having committed
like offences on or before the nineteenth day of
May were therefore to be tried under some pre
vious statute, and were precluded from any benefit
which might otherwise have been derived from
this. Hence it was that Penry was tried, con
demned, and executed after the nineteenth day of
May, for what by this Act would have subjected
him only to imprisonment and banishment.
Nor did the law touch the case of Mr. Cart
wright. He still lingered in prison, treated with
more rigor than his fellows.1 They had occasional
liberty upon bonds ; but he, none. They were
permitted to see " all their friends " ; but he, only
his " wife and such as had necessary business with
him."2 All this time, he had been suffering more
or less from sciatica and other grievous sicknesses,
induced by " lack of convenient air and by lying
in cold prisons."3 Even when he had prayed to
go home on bail for a few days to lay one of his
children in the grave, it was denied him.4 We
wfll not presume to say that he was thus anointed
1 Strype's Whitgift, 370. 3 Ibid., 71. Strype's Whitgift,
s Strype's Annals, VH. 66, Appendix, p. 155.
70. ' Marsden, 175.

Ch. XVI] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 571
with the oil of sadness above his fellows because
his Grace still felt the sting of his pen. Yet one
would suppose that a high-minded man, of a gen
erous and unrevengeful spirit, having now a power
but nominally below the queen, would have been
careful, for his own name's sake, tp err towards an
old antagonist rather on the side of leniency than
ou that of severity.
We cheerfully concede that the Archbishop, by
his influence with the queen,1 may have procured
the dismission of Mr. Cartwright's case from the
Star-Chamber, and of his person from prison, " upon
his general promise to be quiet"; in other words,
"upon condition that he should neither write, nor
preach, nor act in anything to the disturbance of the
Church, either in reference to her government or
forms of worship." 2 Though his opinions were un
changed, the fire of his ripe manhood had abated ;
he saw no hope of ecclesiastical reformation ; he
was grieved that his own principles had been
drawn out into Separation, which he abhorred,3
and was content to devote his waning life to the
peaceful preaching of the Word and the humble
duties of his Hospital.* Whatever motives may
have influenced the Archbishop, and whether or
not Lord Burleigh, supported "by a majority of
the Council," who "had tender regards to sincere
though intractable men,5 was the prime and effi-
1 Heylin's Presb., Book IX. See. able treatise against the Brown-
83. ists." (Marsden, 173.)
' Ibid. Fuller, Book IX. p. 204. 4 Fuller, Book X. p. 3.
Strype's Whitgift, 370. 6 Hallam, 125. Lingard, VTH.
• Soon after he was summoned 820.
by Bishop Freko, " he drew up an

572 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Ch. XVI.
cient mover, "on prudential considerations"1 or on
considerations of " humanity," for a release " which
the harshness of the prelate had denied,"2 one
thing is clear, — Mr. Cartwright was not set at lib
erty until the executions of Barrow, Greenwood,
and Penry had swollen high the tide of indigna
tion against the prelates ; 3 not until even the
court had begun to feel ashamed of such severi
ties to such men ; and not, we suspect, until her
Majesty, " in her gracious and tender compassion
of their distressed state, had given commission to
discharge all" prisoners for ecclesiastical causes*
He was, however, discharged from prison in this
year, 1593, and probably in the month of June or
the month of July.5 He was permitted to resume
his Mastership of the Hospital at Warwick, and to
1 Waddington's Penry, 247. p. 204) mentions his release under
Again I regret that Dr. W. gives the running date of 1591. So also
no authority for a statement of iu- does Strype (Life of Whitgift, 370).
terest and importance. But neither of them states when the
Marsden, 176. release took place. Each mentions
3 Hanbury, I. 82. it in anticipation. This is evident,
4 Strype's Annals, VII. 191; because we find a letter from Mr.
Francis Johnson to Lord Burleigh, Cartwright and others while yet
Jan., 1593-4. He was yet in prison, in prison, and dated April, 1592
notwithstanding her Majesty's com- (Strype's Annals, VII. 120, com
mission for deliverance. pared with his note, p. 127) ; and be-
6 A word as to the time of Mr. cause we also find a Petition to the
Cartwright's discharge from prison. Lord Treasurer from Cartwright
Mr. Marsden (p. 176) seems to and others while yet in prison, dated
date it in May, 1592. Dr. Wad- May, 1592. But Heylin, who in
dington (Life of Penry, 84, 85) says matters by which his spleen was not
it took place just before September, disturbed is generally good au-
1592. Dr. Palfrey (History of New thority, states distinctly (Book IX.
England, II. 76) mentions it under Sec. 33) that Mr. Cartwright was
date of 1591. Dr. Lingard (VIII. still in prison after the passing of
320) says that Mr. Cartwright was the Act, — April 10th, 1593, —
confined but eighteen months. which '• seemed chiefly to relate (o
It is true that Fuller (Book IX. the brethren of the Separation"'

Ch. XVI-1 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 573
preach.1 He continued there during the rest of
his days, with the exception of a short time which
he spent in the island of Guernsey, in the year
1595, at the request of Lord Zouch, the Governor.2
"Besides taking the most exact care of the Hos
pital, he often preached — without remuneration —
at both churches on the Lord's day, and at one
of them on Saturday."3 He suffered extremely
from acute diseases contracted in cold and damp
prisons. Yet he pursued assiduously his great
work, " The Confutation of the Ehemish Testa
ment," rising at three of the clock in the morn
ing, and studying upon his knees, as he was forced
to do by his infirmities and pains, and preaching
even when with the utmost difficulty he could
only creep into the pulpit. On Sunday, — Christ
mas day of 1603, — "as if with something of a
prophetic forecast," he preached from the text,
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was,
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave
it." On the following Tuesday, with joyous views
of heaven, he suddenly sank and breathed his last
in peace, aged sixty-eight years.4
" In the early years of his public life, he was
not free from the universal vices of his times, —
intemperance and personality in controversy. But
as age mellowed and persecution broke down his
and even after the death of Penry, ' Fuller, Book X. p. 2. Heylin's
on tho twenty-ninth day of May. Presb., Book IX. Sec. 33.
Again, speaking of Mr. Cartwright's ' Strype's Whitgift, 434. Mid-
death, he says it occurred in De- dleton, II. 333.
comber, 1603, "about ten years • Brook, II. 159.
after his enlargement." I have * Ibid., 158- 160. Middleton, H
therefore adopted the date which 833-335.
he has given.

574 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. |Cu. XVI.
spirit, a noble love of truth, a generous and for
giving temper, a contempt of suffering, and a fer
vent piety to God, break out with increasing
lustre ; and while learning, eloquence, and high
talents, associated with exalted religious principles,
— and these displayed with consistency through a
long life of persecution, — shall continue to be re
vered, the name of Cartwright will be uttered by
good men of every party with profound respect."1
The queen's lament for the execution of " the
servants of God " found a hearty response from
her more influential courtiers. The new statute
against Puritan recusants enacted a substitute for
the halter, except for refusing to abjure and for
violating the oath of abjuration. Under these new
influences of the law and the Court, the Commis
sioners no longer tried the skill of the judges at
warping the former statute against the Papists,
but guided the courts by the new Act. Although
some few more, in different parts of the kingdom,
were condemned and noosed under the gallows,
yet timely reprieve was always at hand, and their
hanging was commuted to banishment. No more
of the Separatists were executed during the reign
of Elizabeth.2
" Be a dissembler, a hypocrite, a devil if thou
wilt; only come to church and obey the queen's
laws," — was the language of the Commissioners to
these men in their distress.3
1 Marsder, 177, 178. 3 E. G. to John Smyth in Dec,
* Morton, 343. Hanbury, I. 83. 1593 ; Strype's Annals, HI 187,
Neal, I. 205. 188. Brook, H. 195.

Ch. XVI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 575
Their answers were after this sort : " Imprison
ments, indictments, yea death itself, are no meet
weapons to convince men's consciences."1 "As for
dungeons, irons, close-prison torment, hunger,, cold,
want of means to maintain their families, these
may cause some to make shipwreck of a good con
science, or to lose their life ; but they are not fit
ways to persuade honest men to any truth, or dis
suade them from errors."2 "If we did err, yet
prisons and gallows were not fit means to convince
and persuade our consciences."3
Thus did the Independents answer the profane
demands and the cruel policy of the Commission
ers. Thus did they continue steadfast in their
principles. Thus did they prove themselves to
have grown wiser than their teachers, — both of
the Prelatic and the Genevan school. Thus did
they battle with power, bear the reproach and
scorn of bad men and of good, and stand unshielded,
unweaponed, and unfriended in front of hot per
secution. Thus did they stand, protest, and endure,
for one great right, — Freedom to worship God.
Not long after the dissolution of Parliament, the
queen, by commission, authorized "liberty to the
captives and the opening of the prison to them
that were bound"; a commission which was re
luctantly and tardily executed.4 By this authority,
the jails were at length cleared of those whose
1 The parting words of Penry to " Francis Johnson to the Lord
Justices Young and Fanshaw ; Har- Treasurer Burleigh ; Strype's An-
leian Misc., IV. 348. nals, VII. 190.
• The Separatist Church to the 4 Strype's Annals, VII. 191 ;
Lord Mayor of London ; Wadding- Johnson to Burleigh.
ton's Penry, 267.

576 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Cn. XVI.
ecclesiastical offences dated before the twentieth
day of May, 1593. Francis Johnson was not set
at liberty until after January 8th, 1593-4, and then
only on the condition of perpetual banishment.1
The liberty of others seems also to have been
granted, subject to the same hard condition.
In June 1594, Bishop Aylmer died,2 and the
see of London was filled by Dr. Eichard Fletcher,
translated from the bishopric of Worcester. This
prelate died the next year under the queen's dis
pleasure for his taking a second wife, and while
smoking tobacco,3 '' which was not usually taken
in those days, unless physically or as a melancholy
companion " ! But during his brief administration he
proceeded rigorously, and soon caused eighty-nine
persons to be committed to prison for their relig
ion, a few of whom were Papists. The others
1 Neal and Brook say that John- surprise, had I then had before me
son was tried and condemned on " The Form of Ordering Priests,"
the late Statute 35 Eliz., Cap. I. which contains the following : " The
Possibly, for, as we have seen, the bishops and priests present shall lay
judges had wondrous skill at dis- their hands upon the head of every
torting statutes. Yet I think the one that receiveth orders, .... the
statement doubtful ; for the law bishop saying, ' Receive the Holy
evidently applied not to his case, Ghost ; whose sins thou dost forgive
his offence having been committed they are forgiven, and whose sins
before the twentieth day of May. thou dost retain they are retained.' "
He himself urged this fact to Lord (Sparrow, 158.) To this clause I
Burleigh ; and also showed that he find members of the English Church
was not indictable by the Act 23 do at this day as strenuously and
Eliz. (Strype's Annals, VII. 192 - openly object as did the Puritans
1 94.) in Elizabeth's day. See an inter-
a Strype's Aylmer, 1 71. esting article, exhibiting the dissatis-
[ have expressed surprise {ante, faction of English Churchmen, in
Vol. II. p. 263, note) that Bishop the New York Observer of August
Aylmer and Richard Hooker should 2d, 1860, entitled " The Prayer-
have made secret confession and re- Book and Articles."
ceived absolution upon their death- 3 Strype's Whitgift, 429, 430.
beds. I should have been spared the Camden, 528.

Ch. XVI] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 577
were Puritan preachers who had failed of conform
ity in some trivial matters, and such others as had
"frequented conventicles."1 Upon this latter class
the new Act was brought to bear; very many of
whom, now and in years following, were forced to
abjure the realm, forfeiting their goods and chat
tels forever, and their landed rights, if they had
any, during life. Others of them went voluntarily
into exile ; preferring this, with all its sorrows, to
the alternative of persecution at home.2 Most of
them, if not all, following the dying counsel of
Penry, took refuge with Johnson in Holland; from
whom issued the first colony, planted for religion's
sake, on the shores of North America. Multitudes
of this despised brotherhood still remained, how
ever, in England, eluding as they best might the
clutches of the new law. Some little time elapsed,
— we have no clew to its length, — when those
who remained at home, " greatly distressed through
imprisonment and other great troubles," and those
who were in exile, presented a joint Petition to the
Lords of the Privy Council, that they might be
permitted to migrate to her Majesty's possessions
in Canada,- an indefinite country in those days,
but probably including the vast territory now com
prised within New England, New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, and Newfoundland.3 We have no record of
1 Fuller, Book IX. p. 233. Neal, suit to your Lordships is, that it
I. 208. would please you to be the means
¦ Morton, 343, 844. Neal, I. unto her Majesty to grant them
205. license to pass peaceably into the
" " The Humblo • Petition of her Province of Canada, and there to
Highness's faithful subjects falsely inhabit, where they promise to de-
called Brownists. Their humble mean themselves with all dutiful
vol. in. 73

578

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3.

[Ch. XVt

any action taken by the Council upon this Pe
tition ; and it is intimated that they scorned it.1
But we find that " many of them were banished to
Newfoundland, where they were abused, and at last
came into the Low Countries."2
Soon after the passage ofthe Act of 1593 against
the Barrowists, the High Commission abated their

regard towards her Majesty as be
cometh her good subjects.
" To the Right Honorable the
Lords of her Majesty's most Hon
orable Privy Council : Whereas we,
her Majesty's natural-born subjects
and loyal, now living many of us in
other countries as mean exiles " —
from — " her Highness's dominion,
and the rest which remain within
her Grace's land greatly distressed
through imprisonment and other
great troubles sustained only for
some matters of conscience, in which
our most lamentable estate we can
not in that measure perform the
duty of subjects as we desire : And
also, Whereas means is now offered
for our being in a foreign and far
country which lieth to the west
from hence in the Province of Can
ada, where, by the Providence of
the Almighty and her Majesty's
most gracious favor, we may not
only worship God as we are in con
science persuaded by his Word, but
also do unto her Majesty and our
country great good service, and in
time greatly annoy that bloody and
persecuting Spaniard about the
Bay of Mexico : Our most humble
suit is, that it may please your
Honors to be a means unto her ex
cellent Majesty that, with her most
gracious favor and protection, we

may peaceably depart thither, and
there remaining to be accounted her
Majesty's faithful and loving sub
jects, to whom we owe duty and
obedience in the Lord. Promising
hereby, and taking God to record
who searcheth the hearts of all
people, that wheresoever we be
come we will, by the grace of God,
live and die faithfully to her High
ness and this land of our nativity."
I copy this Paper from " The
New England Historical and Gen
ealogical Register," VoL XIII. p.
259. It was communicated to the
Register by Samuel G. Drake, Esq.,
who " found it in the British State
Paper Office, Domestic Series."
The original is without date or
signature. Mr. Drake conjectures
that it was drawn up "soon after
the Act of the 35th of Elizabeth,
1592," meaning 1593. My own
opinion is, that it was not drawn
up until 1594, at the earliest; be
cause it is in' part a petition of
" many exiles," and I do not find
evidence of such until Francis John
son, at some time after January 8th,
1593-4, had gone to Holland.
Dr. Waddington gives the same
Petition in his " Hidden Church."
1 Waddington's MS.
' Morton, 346.

Ch. XVI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 579
persecution of the Presbyterian Puritans. It is true,
indeed, that, three years after, when the bishops
had for the most part transferred ecclesiastical prose
cutions to the temporal courts, the Lord Chief Jus
tice Anderson did outrage common decency by his
proceedings in ecclesiastical cases. Taking infor
mations against the clergy from covert Papists
denouncing preachers as knaves from the very
bench ; urging the grand jury to find a bill, under
the late statute, against persons who had observed
a day of fasting and prayer under the express al
lowance of their bishop ; threatening to extend the
statute to those who heard sermons in other parish
churches, though they frequented their own ; de
claring himself to be, upon the bench, both ordi
nary and bishop ; and uttering all these things
with wrath and oaths and reproachful revilings ; —
he excited the disgust and indignation of all "per
sons of principal credit and note. I would to
God," — continues the writer from whom we derive
these facts, — "I would to God it would please the
Eight Honorable Lords of her Majesty's Council to
cause an uniform interpretation of all the statutes for
Church causes, wherein the judges do differ in opin
ion. For want thereof, it cometh to pass that the
self-same cause at the self-same time, in divers parts
of the realm, is diversely, yea in effect contrarily,
judged and enforced upon juries : the same cause,
I say, without differing in any one circumstance,
save only in the opinion and affection of the judges.
And I would to God that they which judge in
religious causes, though in the name of civil affairs,
would either get some more knowledge in religion

580 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Ch. XVI
and God's word than my Lord Anderson hath, or
else might be assisted in all such causes by those
who have."1
Notwithstanding these gusts from a passionate and
overbearing judge, the storm of religious persecu
tion lulled — as between Protestant and Protestant
— through the rest of Elizabeth's reign. Each
party abated its offensive zeal, and chiefly for the
same reasons. The queen was now in her grand
climacteric. Death, in all human probability, would
soon rifle her sceptre ; and, as was generally be
lieved, would transfer it to James of Scotland. He
was supposed to lean strongly towards Presbyteri-
anism, having been educated under the straitest of
the sect, and having publicly declared, in God's
name, that the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland was
the purest Kirk under heaven, and that the ser
vice of the Church of England was but an evil-said
Mass. Weary of persecution and of bootless strife,
the Puritans were content to wait for the rising
of that sun which they fondly hoped would come
" with healing in his wings." The prelates, on the
other hand, having the like expectations of his ec
clesiastical predilections, were willing, by a cessation
of their severities, to curry favor in anticipation
with the same future sovereign.2
That this cessation of ecclesiastical strife and per
secution was owing to the subjugation of the
Puritans, the diminution of their number, or the
1 Strype's Annals, VH. 367 -372; X. p. 2. Strype's Whitgift, 508,
letter from a clergyman in 1596 to 520. Lingard, VTII. 322. Mars-
a person of quality. Neal, L 211, den, 248. Palfrey's History of New
212. England, I. 124.
2 Fuller, Book IX. p. 233 ; Book

Ch. XVI] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 581
unpopularity of their cause, we cannot admit. True,
their advocates at the Council board were dimin
ished ; 1 but it had been done by death. True, a
large portion of the preachers still having charge
" acquiesced," and perhaps cheerfully, " in the Estab
lished Church as then administered " ; 2 but the
hundreds who had been ejected from their livings
still remained in the land, — their opinions and
purposes unchanged, — patronized and sheltered by
nobility and gentry. If indeed "a very large pro
portion of those who at first favored the Puritan
cause had gradually withdrawn from it,"3 — some
by death, some for change of opinion, and some
from expediency, — yet we have reason to say that
the cause, so far from having waned, had gained
above its loss. Dr. Bancroft, in his sermon at
Paul's Cross in the year 1589, complained, repeat
edly and bitterly, that Puritanism was widely coun
tenanced' by men in authority. In the same year
Dr. Cooper declared, that " the most part of men "
and " all inferior subjects " were averse to Episco
pacy, and proclaimed their aversion " at every table,
in sermons, and in the face of the whole world."4
In the year 1590, it was published broadcast,
"that thousands did sigh for the Discipline, ten
thousands had sought it, and that the most worthy
men of every shire had consented to it."6 Mr.
Hallam indorses the opinion of Persons, the Jes
uit, published in 1594, that the Puritan party was
more generally favored throughout the realm than
1 Marsden, 235. * " Admonition," pp. 1, 25, 102,
1 Ibid., 236. 111.
' Ibid., 235. ' Heylin's Presb., Book IX. Sec. 2.

582 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. [Ch. XVI.
the Prelatic. But he adds : •• I do not quote these
passages out of trust in Father Persons, but be
cause they coincide with much besides that has
occurred to me in reading, and especially with the
Parliamentary proceedings of this reign  The
Puritans, or at least those who favored them, had
a majority among the Protestant gentry in the
queen's days. It is agreed on all hands, that they
predominated in the House of Commons ; but that
House was composed, as it ever has been, of the
principal landed proprietors, and as much repre
sented the general wish of the community when
it demanded a further reform in religious matters,
as on any other subject." 1
But while prosecutions for non-conformity were
abated, and non-conformity itself was less obtru
sive, Puritanism in another form arrayed itself
aggressively against the judicial assumptions of the
prelates. They who had suffered from the lawless
proceedings of the ecclesiastical tribunals, clergy,
nobility, and gentry, — each class " too wise to sub
ject their estates and liberties to a number of art
ful civilians," — woke up the old conflict between
these and the common lawyers; remonstrating vig
orously against the permission long allowed to the
ecclesiastical courts to proceed irrespective of the
laws and statutes of the realm, and without the
check of prohibitions from the temporal courts.
This reformatory crusade commenced, in the year
1598, by obtaining " Prohibitions out of the Com
mon Pleas to stop proceedings, not only in the
ordinary courts of the bishops and in the civil
1 Hallam, note on pp. 115, 116

Ch. XVI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1592-3. 583
courts, but in the High Commission Ecclesiastical."
This procedure caused great commotion among the
bishops and the doctors of the civil law, and drew
forth many " motions, discourses, and arguments
from year to year." But the movers of these Pro
hibitions were successful, supported as they were
by the clear and constitutional pre-eminence of
the common to the canon law ; and many causes
were thus wrested from the courts of the bishops,
and even from the queen's Ecclesiastical Commis
sioners. The number of Prohibitions increased from
year to year during the remainder of this reign ;
the civilians sunk in business and in repute ; the
common law was once more instated in its own
proper supremacy ; and the people were relieved
from numberless oppressions which had issued from
the bottomless pit of laws having authority peril
ously uncertain and properties wondrously Pro
tean. This was indeed a Puritan triumph.1
Thus — if our data be correct — Puritanism had
lost nothing in numbers, in popular regard, or in
courage. Prelacy had lost nothing of its spirit or
of its power to persecute for ecclesiastical offences.
Puritan and prelate — touching matters of conform
ity—alike rested and were at truce. They rested,
for they were tired. They tacitly assented to
truce, for to each it was politic. The dawn of the
approaching century found them awake again, each
girded for a new contest, and rejoicing, like a strong
man refreshed, to run the race again.
1 Strype's Whitgift, 521, 537 - 541. Neal, I. 212.

CHAPTEE XVII.
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. — WILLIAM, LORD BURLEIGH.
Opinions of Cranmer, Coverdale, Bollinger, Calvin, and Queen Eliza
beth RESPECTING THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. — TnE QUEEN'S EXAMPLE. —
The Habits of the People on Sundays. — The Catastrophe at South
ward — Its moral Effect upon the People. — Action in Parliament
for the better observance of the sabbath day. — the efforts of
Smith and of Greenham for the same Object. — Dr. Bound's Book
upon the Sabbath. — The new Doctrine generally received by the
People. — Opposition of the Prelates. — Lord Burleigh's bodily In
firmities. — His last Sickness, Death, and Character.
1559-1599.
The fathers of the English Eeformation held tc
an entire sanctification of the Christian Sabbath.
Becon, chaplain to Archbishop Cranmer, published
a catechism, which must have had his Grace's ap
proval, in which he stated : " To keep holy the Sab
bath day is not to cease from bodily labor that thou
shouldst  give thy mind to gallant apparel,
to banqueting, to idle talk, to vain pastimes, 
but that thou, setting aside all worldly businesses,
shouldst the more freely apply thyself to read, hear,
and learn the word of God, to pray in the temple
with the congregation,  and, casting away the
works of the flesh, wholly exercise thyself in fruits
of the spirit."1
Miles Coverdale, while Bishop of Exeter, distin
1 Marsden, 242, note.

Ch. XVH.] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 585
guished between the Decalogue and the Jewish or
dinances added to it as by-laws. He declared that
each of the Ten Commandments had existence and
binding force before their proclamation from Sinai ;
and said particularly of the fourth, " The Sabbath
did not the Lord here ordain first, but on the sev
enth day of the creation." x
So Henry Bullinger, of Zurich, — whose writings
were adopted into the religious literature of Eliza
beth's day, — held that the Sabbath was no Jewish
institution, but one "that was of old ordained, and
given first of all to the ancient fathers, and then
again renewed by the Lord and beaten into the
memory of the people of Israel." He says further :
"The .Sabbath is ceremonial so far forth as it is
joined to sacrifices and other Jewish ceremonies,
and so far forth as it is tied to a certain time.
But in respect that on the Sabbath day religion
and true godliness are exercised and published, that
a just and seemly order is kept in the Church,
 it is perpetual, and not ceremonial. Now,
as there ought to be an appointed place, so like
wise must there be a prescribed time for the out
ward exercise of religion  They of the primi
tive Church, therefore, did change the Sabbath day,
lest they should have seemed to have imitated the
Jews and still to have retained their orders and
ceremonies  They transgress this command
ment that cease not from evil works, but abuse
the Sabbath's rest to the provoking of fleshly pleas
ures. For they keep the Sabbath to God, but
work to the Devil, in dicing, in drinking, in dancing,
1 Marsden, 242, note.
VOL. m. 74

586 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [Ch. XVIL
and feeding their humors with the vanities of this
world  They sin against this precept which
either exercise any handy occupation on the Sab
bath day, or else lie wrapt in bed and fast asleep
tdl the day be almost spent. They offend in this
precept that awe their servants to work, and by
appointing them to other business do draw them
from the worship of God."1
Calvin took low ground upon this subject, speak
ing of the Sabbath as "abrogated," to be used by
Christians only as a remedy necessary for the pres
ervation of order in the Church, for hearing the
Word, for breaking the mystic bread, for public
prayers, and to let servants and laborers rest.2 " The
pernicious influence of his views still infects the
Continental churches." 3
Queen Elizabeth and her ductile prelates took
like ground. In the first year of her reign, she
ordered that " all parsons, vicars, and curates, shall
teach and declare unto their parishioners, that they
may with a safe and quiet conscience, after their
Common Prayer in time of harvest, labor upon the
holy and festival days, and save that thing which
God hath sent : and if, for any scrupulosity or
grudge of conscience, men should superstitious];*
abstain from working upon those days, that then
they should grievously offend and displease God."4
1 Bullinger's Decades (Parker Bullinger so far allowed labor on
Soc.'s edit.), Vol. L pp. 254, 259, the Sabbath, as that "liberty is
260, 262. granted in causes of necessity."
2 Institutes, Vol. I. pp. 356-358 ("Decades," I. 266.) "God doth
(edit, of Presb. Board). dispense with us for the Sabbath, as
* Marsden, 243, note. often as any urgent necessity, or
* Injunctions bv Queen Eliza- saving of a man, shall seem to re-
beth, Article 20 ; Sparrow, p. 73. quire it  Why should it not bo

Ch. XVH.] THE* CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 587
So far as her example had influence, she en
couraged her people not only to labor, but to
merry-making, on the Lord's day; as during her
visit to Kenilworth Castle, where she devoutly at-
tended church on Sunday mornings to hear prayers
and sermons, but indulged in "sports and pastimes
as on other days in the afternoons."1 The effect
of the royal example was but natural. The queen
gave an inch, the people took an ell, doing pre
cisely what Bullinger describes as " working to the
Devil." We cannot wonder, therefore, that so early
as the year 1562 "the bishops were moved to ob
serve what little regard was now-a-days had to the
Lord's day, and how sparingly people resorted to
church." We think it no marvel, that " the people
commonly kept fairs and markets on this day, and
other great festivals " ; that " those that kept vict
ualling houses, and artificers, admitted guests and
opened their shops in time of divine service " ; that
"handicraftsmen would follow their works, and
others go abroad about their worldly employments,
on these as well as on other days."2 Except dur
ing divine service, such occupations on Sundays
were as much authorized by the queen's injunc
tion as was the labor of the husbandman. " It was
the custom" with the Protestant churches on the
Continent — thanks in part to Calvin — for the
people after divine service "to refresh themselves
lawful on the Sabbath-day to gather But this is a " liberty " far more
in, and keep from spoiling, the hay restricted than that allowed by the
or corn which by reason of unsea- Injunctions of Elizabeth.
sonable weather hath lain too long ' Ante, Vol. II. p. 136, note.
abroad, and likely to be worse if it a Strype's Annals, I. 532.
Btay any longer?" (Ibid., 265.)

588 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [Ch. XVn*.
with bowling, walking abroad, or other innocent
recreations";1 and neither Queen Elizabeth nor
her clergy had courage or principle to be in advance
of the times. "Who is a carnal defender of the
breach of the Sabbath in all places of his abode ? "
said Martin Mar-prelate. " John London. Who
goeth to bowls upon the Sabbath, crying, ' Eub, rub,
rub,' and then ' the Devil go with it ! ' when he fol
lowed himself ? Dumb, duncetical John of good Lon
don."2 " I never withdrew myself from service or sermons
on the Lord's day," replied his lordship. " Christ,
the best expositor of the Sabbath, said that the
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the
Sabbath. A man may have his meat dressed for his
health upon the Sabbath, and why not have some
convenient exercise of his body for the health
thereof on that day ? " 3
With such royal and prelatic examples before them,
the people not only betook themselves to the labors
of husbandry, kept fairs and markets and opened
shops and victualling-houses on the Sabbath, but
indulged also on the same day in " shooting, bowl
ing, cocking, bear-baiting, dancing, prizes of defence,
wakes,4 May-games, and all other such rude dis
ports." 5 Theatrical performances, previously in low
esteem, were now coming into repute, the stage
1 Strype's Aylmer, 216. next Sunday, or Saint's day, to
' " Epistle," p. 26. Strype's Ayl- whom the parish church was dedi-
mer, 294. cated; still used in most parts of
3 Strype's Aylmer, 215. Cooper's England." (Bayley's Dictionary,
" Admonition," 43, 44. London, 1790.)
' " Country feasts that used to be 6 Strype's Annals, VI. 298.
celebrated for some days after the

Ch. XVII] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 58 &
having made a true and great artistic progress.
They were openly patronized by the queen, who
in 1583 — just before Shakespeare became known
— had her own select band of players.1 These en
tertainments also had a large share of popular at
tention on the Sabbath days ; accompanied by
"much riot and intemperance."2
The people of London and its suburbs took great
delight in those days in seeing dogs torment and
lacerate bears, in seeing bears maim and crunch
dogs. They would gather by thousands for what
to them was sport ; and, as every depraved taste
has its mercenary caterers, bears were abundantly
supplied and freely baited. There was a garden
in Southwark, •• commonly called Paris Garden," —
a humanity school largely devoted to this purpose.
It was surrounded by galleries or scaffolds, whence
the people could view the bloody fray in security.
On the second Sunday in January, 1588-4, the sport
there was going on bravely. The hero of the day
defended himself bravely against a score or two
of fierce and well-trained dogs. The people were
in ecstasy at his clumsy agility, his sullen courage,
his bloody agony, and his murderous adroitness.
In the height of the excitement, the shouts of ap
plause were suddenly interrupted by a fearful crash,
followed by cries and shrieks. A large part of the
galleries had suddenly fallen, overburdened with
the crowd, who were plunged in a terrific mass of
misery below. Those not involved in the wreck,
losing all presence of mind, fled at random, while
1 Stow, 698.
* Strype's Annals, V. 495. Ante, Vol. I. p. 369

590 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [Cn. XVtt
the sufferers lay piled in agony and terror, one
upon another, and overwhelmed with rubbish. At
length eight mangled and lifeless bodies of men
and women were extricated, with four hundred
others sorely crushed, some of whom soon died,
and others were crippled for life. " A friendly
warning," says one chronicler, then living, "to all
such as more delight themselves in cruelty of beasts,
to see them rend one another, than in works of
mercy, which are the fruits of a true professed faith,
and ought to be the Sabbath-day exercise ; and not
only a warning to works of mercy, but a watch
word to put us in mind how we violate the Sab
bath day,  falsifying the glorious title of
Christians in our odious actions." x
This accident made a profound impression upon
the public mind. Occurring on Sunday, it seemed
to many a special token of God's displeasure for
the desecration of holy day. The public conscience,
once aroused, was not readily appeased. This is
evident from the action of the Parliament of 1584-5,
which convened about nine months after the South-
wark tragedy. The very first bill read in the
House of Commons was " for the better and more
reverent observing of the Sabbath day."2 After
being sent to the Lords, it was amended again and
again,8 but finally -passed both Houses.* At the
close of the Parliament, Mr. Speaker Puckering em
phatically commended this bill to her Majesty, urg
ing that by her assent it might become a vitalized
1 D'Ewes, 663. Holingshed, IV. t D'Ewes, 333.
504. Stow, 696. Fuller, Book IX. 3 Ibid., 315 -369, passim.
p. 165. ' Ibid., 322, 369.

CH.XVIL] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH 591
Act, and adding as a radical reason, that her Par
liament, " persuaded that all good laws of men ought
to he grounded upon the eternal law of God, ex
pressed in the two tables of the Ten Command
ments,  had thought it their parts to go for
ward, and, providing for the rest and right use of
the Sabbath day, to provoke her Majesty to give
law concerning the fourth commandment."1 But
her Majesty, notwithstanding, refused her assent to
the bill, " upon that prejudicated and ill-followed prin
ciple, (as may be conjectured,) that she would suffer
nothing to be altered in a matter of religion or
ecclesiastical government." 2 We cannot but regret
that the particular provisions of this bill must
probably remain forever unknown.3
But this was not the end of the subject. There
was a Court of Appeal, — the popular conscience ;
and to this court an appeal was promptly made.
The first appellant was Eichard Greenham, a
Fellow of Cambridge, a devoted preacher, and an
exemplary Christian. About this time, he pub
lished a treatise upon the better observance of the
Christian Sabbath, which made a great impression
"throughout the whole realm."4
This impression was not suffered to wane. In
the year 1595, Dr. Nicholas Bound, a man who

' Strype's Annals, V. 428, 429. this book was published ; but think
* D'Ewes, 322, 323. Ante, Vol. it probable that it made its appear-
II. p. 482. ance after the movement in Par-
' Sir Simon D'Ewes sought for liament upon the same subject.
the Paper in vain on the eighth Unless posthumous, — which is im-
day of October, 1629. (p. 325.) probable, — it must have been print-
4 Fuller, Book IX. pp. 219, 220. ed before the year 1592, for in
I have no means of judging when that year Mr. Greenham died.

592 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. [Cn. XVII.
had been punished for his Puritanism,1 also pub
lished a book upon the same subject, and which
was the means of a great and lasting reformation.
His position was, --' that the fourth commandment,
like the others of the Decalogue, was moral and
perpetual " ; meaning that it was given, not for the
Jews, but for man, having, like the other command
ments of the two tables, its foundation in his
moral necessities and relations. From this premise
he concluded, that " Christians are as straitly bound
to rest upon the Lord's day as were the Jews to
rest upon their Sabbath " ; that this rest should be
" a most careful and exact rest " from all studies
or other worldly business, from all conviviality,
from all recreations and amusements lawful on
other days, and even from all conversation upon
worldly affairs. He carried his inferences to such
an extreme as to specify that one bell only should
be rung (in a given place) on the Sabbath to notify
the people of the time for divine service ; arguing,
doubtless, that the ringing of an unnecessary num
ber was unnecessary labor. Singularly enough, —
if we may credit the testimony of historians more
or less partisan, — while specifying feasts as unlaw
ful on the Sabbath, he made an exception of in
dulgence in favor of "lords, knights, and gentle
men of quality " ; an exception which some thought
" not fair dealing." 2 Dr. Bound seems to have
considered that the Jewish ceremonials and by
laws which were appended to the fourth command
ment had no binding obligation under the Chris-
1 Brook, II. 171.
2 Fuller, Book IX. p. 227. Heylin's Presb., Book X. Sec. 2.

Cn. XVII] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 593
tian dispensation ; but had been abrogated, together
with the whole ritual of the Jewish Church, when
our Saviour " took out of the way the handwriting
of ordinances, nailing it to his cross." The Sabbath
itself, however, he regarded as still existing, be
cause founded in principles and relations still exist
ing. Doubtless he attenuated his deductions in
some particulars unwarrantably ; and some state
ments which' are charged to have been made by
his disciples, if understood literally, were certainly
extravagances, if not " extravagant nonsense."1
His main doctrine, however, was right and tena
ble. It commended itself, therefore, to the conscien
ces of the people, who saw at once the salutary
fitness of the commandment to their own infirmities,
spiritual and bodily,
"Men were suddenly induced, not only to give
way to this doctrine, but to abet it," says Heylin,
"till in very little time it grew the most bewitch
ing error, the most popular infatuation, that ever
' Heylin says that it was preached mit murder," adds Dr. Collier. (VII.
in one placo, "that to do any ser- 183.) Fuller, I perceive, does not
vile work on tho Lord's day was as condescend to notice these extrav-
great a sin as to kill a man or com- agant comparisons ; which must have
mit adultery"; at another place, been either because he had not heard
" that to throw a bowl on the of them, did not believe that they
Lord's day was as great a sin as were ever preached, or viewed them
to kill a man " ; at another place, as I do. If indeed they were ever
"that to make a feast, or dress a made, their form should be regarded
wedding dinner, on that day, was as as rhetorical ; and theirsimple mean-
great a sin as for a father to take a ing doubtless was, that, so far as
knife and cut his child's throat " ; wrong towards God only is con-
and at another place, " that to cerned, it is as great a sin to trans-
ring more bells than one on the gress one command ofthe Decalogue
Lord's day was as great a sin as as to transgress another, — a doc-
might be" (Heyl. Presb., Book X. trine which few, if any, will be
See. 2) ; — '' as great a sin as to com- disposed to controvert.
vol. m. 75

594 ' THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. fCn. XVH.
was infused into the people of England." A great
reformation followed; in which the Puritans were
the most forward and exact. Instead of passing
the afternoons of the Lord's days in fencing, bowl
ing, shooting, May-games, morris-dances and other
like sports, the people for the most part laid these
things aside, and began to devote the entire day
to sober rest, or to devotional exercises in public,
in the family, or in private. Thus, what Lords and
Commons could not do, in that they were weak
through the queen, a few devout Puritans had
done. Simply removing the veil which had so
long covered the law of the Sabbath, and pointing
the people to its unmistakable words, they secured
a more healthful and stable reform than it was
possible for Parliament to effect. Instead of sul
lenly yielding a more reverent observance of the
Sabbath under the compulsion of a statute, " the
people became a law unto themselves, yea, rejoiced
in their own restraint " ; and their precise keeping
of the Lord's day — the more profitable because
cheerful — was perfectly consistent with the largest
religious liberty. Hitherto, all classes had borne
the godless yoke of unremitting appliance to their
several avocations, or suspended them, on holi
days, only for athletic or brutalizing recreations,
which amused but did not refresh. Lacking stated
seasons devoted to rest and to religious profit, their
domestic enjoyments had been curtailed, their bodi
ly powers had been overtasked by toil, and their
mental by carking care, and they had suffered still
greater harm from demoralizing pastimes and lack
of religious culture. But now — allowing them-

CB. XVII.] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 595
selves the liberty of the Christian Sabbath — they
secured refreshment for mind and body, statedly
received spiritual food, one day out of seven en
joyed their homes free from study or labor, with
drew from the debasing influences of the tap-room
and the bear-garden, and from the questionable as
semblages on the green, and returned refreshed and
bettered to the business and toil of another week.1
The Puritans, and perhaps some others, thus hal
lowed the Lord's day from a principle of obedience
to the will of God ; holding that the Sabbath law
was designed alike for his honor and for the good
of man. Others regarded the fourth command
ment as a Jewish law only; yet they acquiesced
in the new movement, because they saw and ap
preciated its social, moral, and religious benefits to
"all sorts of people."
A third class, with Archbishop Whitgift at their
head, threw themselves into collision with this gen
eral reform. They exclaimed, that the new doctrine
"was galling men's necks with a Jewish yoke,
against the liberty of Christians ; that Christ, as
Lord of the Sabbath, had removed the rigor there
of, and allowed men lawful recreations " ; — a singu
lar objection for men who were habitually infringing
1 Dr. Taylor (II. 79) calls the ments and comforts, but with the
Sabbath doctrine of the Puritans Jhealth and morals, of the laboring
a " Calvinistic Sabbatarianism " ; population " ; — an impeachment of
whereas Calvin's notions about the God's wisdom and benevolence to
Sabbath were at least as lax as which I choose not to respond. I
those of the English prelates. He prefer to believe and to say, that
also says, " The experience of Puri- even the Judaical Sabbath, which
tanical rigor has shown how severe- God himself instituted, was some-
iy a Judaical observance of Sunday thing better than such a curse.
interferes not only with tho enjoy-

596 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. TCh. XVtt
Christian liberty by imposing yokes which had no
mention in the Bible. Their true reasons seem
to have been, that the movement had a Puri
tan origin, and that it tended, by magnifying the
Lord's day, to bring " into eclipse all other holy
days, to the derogation of the authority of the
Church." Indeed, Dr. Bound had expressly said in
his treatise, — "I see not where the Lord hath
given any authority to his Church ordinarily and
perpetually to sanctify any day except that which
he hath sanctified himself." Finding that this doc
trine " took deep impressions upon men's minds,
the bishops took cognizance of it in their courts,
and cited several ministers for preaching it." Soon
after its popularity had become evident, Arch
bishop Whitgift called in all the books in which it
was advocated, and forbade any more of them to
be printed. These orders he repeated in the year
1599 ; and in the next year, the Lord Chief Justice
Popham did the same from the bench. Each of
them declared that this Sabbath doctrine disagreed
with the doctrine of the Church and with the
laws and orders of the realm, disturbed the peace
of both, and tended to sedition and schism ! These
measures defeated their own end. Dr. Bound's
book was the more eagerly sought and read. Many
who had not heard of it were advertised of it by
the prohibitions, and inquired for it; and because
the press was closed against it, copies were trans
cribed to meet the demand. Immediately upon
the Archbishop's decease, a second edition was
issued and openly sold ; and from that time for
many years, rarely was a religious pamphlet or a

Ch. XVH] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH 597
catechism published "by the stricter divines, in
which this doctrine (the diamond in this ring) was
not largely pressed and proved ; so that the Sabbath
itself had no rest." x
Such was the resurrection of the Sabbath day in
the Beformed Church of England. We will not
venture to say, of the Sabbath day in its true
evangelical simplicity ; for human infirmity doubt
less intermingled, more or less, with what was
true and divine. Its immediate effect — combined
with that of prelatic opposition — was to alienate
from the Established Church many hitherto its
attached friends, but henceforth, and on this one
Biblical ground, sympathizing with the Puritanical
party ; 2 and it soon came to pass that " a rigid
or lax observance of the Lord's day was the sign
by which, above all others, the two parties were
distinguished."3 The more remote effects of this
Sabbatarian reformation were beyond the date to
which our present narrative is limited. But this
we may say, in passing, that to this day New Eng
land thanks God for countless social blessings in
herited from the Puritan exegesis, in the evening
of Elizabeth's reign, of the fourth command of the
Decalogue, — blessings disturbed and abated only so
far as foreign and atheistical elements have been
thrust upon us.
In Lord Burleigh's "Memoria Mortuorum," we
1 Fuller, Book IX. pp. 227 - 229. ' Heylin's Presb., Book X. Sec. 4
Strype's Whitgift, 530, 531. Neal, Marsden, 243.
I. 208, 209. Brook, II. 171-173. 8 Marsden, 242.
Collier, VII. 182 --.84. Marsden,
240-248.

598 WILLIAM, LORD BURLEIGH. [Cn. XVH
find the following affecting record : " 1589. 7. Apr.
die veneris obdormivit in Domini, Mildrcda Domina
Burleigh, uxor mea."1 He felt this bereavement
most keenly, for she was a lady eminent for piety
beneficence, and amiability, and had cheered and
sustained him through the varied perplexities of
forty-three years. -Six years before this sorrow,
provoked probably by some " rumors " against his
integrity, he had petitioned her Majesty that he
might resign his office, and retire from court. With
much good sense and some pleasantry, she had re
fused his petition and soothed his resentment.2 In
1591, he again proffered a like petition, prompted by
better reasons ; for when the prop upon which he
had so long leaned was taken away, he wearied un
der the burdens which remained, his spirits drooped,
and he longed for that rest which he could find
only in private life, and for those religious studies
which more than ever he craved.3 But now, as
before, appreciating the value of his counsels, and
not knowing where to find his equal,4 Elizabeth
waived his overture with such expressions of at
tachment, and such appeals to his loyalty, that she
again prevailed.
Eallying his courage and strength, Elizabeth's
long-tried counsellor threw a veil over the grief
which he could not suppress, and resumed the
arduous duties of his station. Seven years more
he struggled against increasing bodily infirmities
and increasing cares of State.5 But about the mid-
1 Murdin, 746. 6 See his letters to Sir Robert
3 Strype's Annals, V. 240, 241. Cecil; Wright, II. 426, 427, 430,
8 Ibid., VII. 10fe, 461, 465.
* Ibid'., V. 240.

Ch. XVII] WILLIAM, LORD BURLEIGH. 599
die of May, 1598, his strength so far failed that
he was obliged for the most part to retire from
Courts alternating his residence between his house
at Theobalds and his house in London, and occu
pying himself in the study of the Scriptures and
in devout exercises. Again he prayed the queen
for a complete discharge from the cares of his office.
"She visited him now and then, comforting him
With kind and loving words";1 but could not be
persuaded to yield her claim to the counsels of
her old and faithful servant.
The venerable statesman was now almost seventy-
eight2 years of age. Perpetual cares, bodily labor
by day and by night, and almost constant vexa
tions of spirit during a public life of half a century,
to which severe disease and growing infirmities
were added, had bleached his hair and beard to
the whiteness of the driven snow, but had neither
impaired the powers of his mind, the reverence
of his presence, his calm and serene deportment,
or his "well-favored visage."3 Barely, and only of
late years, had acute pain taken by surprise " his
natural gentle disposition," and betrayed him for
a moment into "sharp words." On the third day
of August he lay in a spacious apartment in his
house by the Strand, where he had been prostrated
by mere weakness about ten days.
"My lord," said one of two or three physicians
who stood by his bedside, "you have no ague
or fever. The pain in your chest is the only dis-
1 Camden, 557. Echard, 888. ' Camden, 557. Echard, 888.
' Wright, II. 485 ; Burleigh to
Robert Cecil, in September, 1597.

600 WILLIAM, LORD BURLEIGH. [Cn. XVn
tinct symptom which we find, and we think it
but a creeping of the gout with which your lord
ship hath been so long troubled. It is slight and
intermittent, and therefore doth not alarm us. We
find no distemper in your pulse or body. With
so good a temper of body, your pulse and senses
so perfect, it is impossible that you should be heart-
struck. We can therefore assure your life."
" The will of the Lord be done. Truly I have
great abundance of worldly good to enjoy ; yet I
desire not life, but rather death, the gate to heaven,
whensoever it shall be God's pleasure."
This conversation occurred at six o'clock in the
evening, and his lordship lay quiet an hour after,
when he suddenly " fell into a convulsion like to
the shakino- of a cold ague." When the fit had
subsided, he crossed his quivering hands upon his
breast, and whispered, looking upward, with the
shadow of a smile, " Now — the Lord be — praised !
The time — is — come ! "
After a short pause to recover strength, he called
for his children, gave them his blessing and his
farewell, exhorted them to live in the fear and
service of God, and concluded by saying, with great
earnestness of tone and look, " My children, my chil
dren, LOVE ONE ANOTHER!"
He then betook himself to God in behalf of the
queen, that she might long be spared to her people
and finally depart in peace. Then, turning to one
of his chaplains who were present, he said, " Now
must I care for myself. Give me the parchment
you wot o£ and call Mr. Bellot."
" Here is my will, Mr. Bellot," when his steward

Ch. XVH.] WILLIAM, LORD BURLEIGH. 601
appeared. " Take it. I have made you one of my
executors. I have always found you true to me,
and now trust you with all."
"My lord," said the weeping steward, "I accept
the trust and will fulfil it. But now I pray your
lordship, as you have lived religiously, so now re
pose yourself upon your Saviour Christ, by whose
blood you may have forgiveness of sins."
His chaplains made like appeals, which he heard
quietly to the end, when he replied, with a placid
smile, " My friends, this I have already done ; and
this I now do. And I am assured that God hath
forgiven my sins, and will save my soul. Mr.
Thompson," — one of his chaplains, — " pray for my
departing spirit ; and let all this company " — there
were about twenty in the apartment — "join there
in." The chaplain then read a prayer which he had
prepared in anticipation, which was solemnly re
peated word for word by children, friends, and ser
vants, and by Lord Burleigh himself.1 He then
lay quietly, too weak for further conversation, but
occasionally murmuring brief prayers, until midnight,
when his speech sometimes failed him. But when
ever he could command it, he could be heard
feebly ejaculating, "0, what a heart this is that
will not let me die!" — "Come, Lord Jesus!" —
" One drop of death, Lord Jesus ! " His last words
were, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit ! " — " Lord,
have mercy on me ! " From that time, he- seemed
to be unconscious and without pain until eight
o'clock in the morning, when "he went away so
1 This prayer is left on record by Strype ; Annals, VH. No. CCXLIX.
VOL. m. 76

602 WILLIAM, LORD BURLEIGH [Ch. XVH
mildly, and looking so sweetly, that, though many
watched to see when he should die, it could scarce
be perceived when the breath went out of his
body." J
Thus died William, Lord Burleigh, in the fulness
of a good old age, and wearing that peculiar crown
of glory which the wisest of monarchs has com
mended ; 2 as a statesman, a counsellor, a magis
trate, for wisdom, integrity, gravity, and industry,
the coryphasus of his day. His counsel was always
demanded by the queen before deciding upon any
measure of state policy ; and rarely did she grant
any private suit without his consideration and ap
proval.3 Although sometimes petulant toward him,
sometimes jealous, and sometimes unreasonably of
fended, it was her habit to treat him with marked
deference ; a distinction which at one time so
roused the envy of certain courtiers, that they
plotted against his life, and were upon the point
of securing his imprisonment, when he was saved
— upon his own application — by the timely inter
vention of his royal mistress.4 Abroad, he was ac
counted the greatest statesman in Christendom;
reverenced by friendly princes, feared and hated
by those who were unfriendly. At home he was
1 With the exception of those years of his life," — probably one of
points upon which I have given his gentleman domestics. It occu-
other references, I derive my ac- pies Book I. of Peck's " Desiderata
count of Lord Burleigh's last days Curiosa," and was first published iD
from what is entitled " The Com- that work.
plete Statesman, exemplified in the - Prov. xvi. 31.
life and actions of Sir William Ce- 3 Peck, Vol. I. Book I. 22.
cil, Lord Burleigh ; written by one 4 Fuller's " Holy State," 268
who had lived in the house with Lloyd, 476. Camden, 122. Peck,
him during the last twenty-five Vol. I. Book I. 15- 17.

Ch. XVII.] WILLIAM, LORD BURLEIGH 6 0i5
honored for his uprightness, impartiality, and in
tegrity.1 The petition of the poor man ever re
ceived the same patient attention and courteous
answer as that of the rich. These honored him,
those prayed for him ; the bad feared him, the
good loved him ; and nearly all, admiring his sound
judgment, his unwearying patriotism, and his sturdy
uprightness, were wont to style him "The Father
of the Commonwealth." 2
In 1580, the Earl of Sussex wrote to him as
follows : " The true fear of God which your actions
have always showed to be in your heart ; the
great and deep care which you have always had
for the honor and safety of the Queen's Majesty's
most sacred worthy person ; the continual trouble
which you have of long time taken for the bene
fiting of the commonwealth ; and the upright course
which you have always taken, respecting the mat-
ter and not the person, in all causes ;  have
tied me to your lordship in that knot which no
worldly frailty can break."8 This is perhaps the
noblest tribute to Lord Burleigh's worth which we
have on record ; for, though addressed to him per
sonally, it was no flattery, but the honest effusion
of a high-minded soldier and nobleman, who never
cringed to peer or prince.4
The last words which Lord Burleigh wrote —
the writing showing how tremulous was his hand
— were addressed to his son Eobert, then Secre
tary of State and the immediate successor of the
1 Peek, Vol. I. Book I. 25. * See ante, Vol. H. pp. 323-326,
* Ibid., 19, 20. and notes.
• Lodge, II. 229.

604

WILLIAM, LORD BURLEIGH.

[Ch. XVH.

unfortunate Davison.1 They are equally indicative
of his loyalty and piety : 2 " Serve God by serving
of the queen ; for all other service is indeed bondage
to the Devd."3
" When," wrote one of his contemporaries, -• when
shall our realm see such a man, or when such a
mistress have such another servant ! Well might
one weep when the other died."4 When she first
heard of the death of the faithful servant who
had held the helm of State from the moment of
her accession, and had been her discreet counsellor
in her previous days of sorrow and peril,5 Queen
Elizabeth did weep, " taking her loss very grievously,
and separating herself from all company."6 Nor
was this a momentary grief. Months and years
afterwards, the queen would " speak of him with
tears, and turn aside when he was discoursed of."

1 Lodge, in. 19, note; 25.
s We have the following state
ment from Sir John Harrington.
" When my Lord Treasurer did
come in from prayers, Sir Francis
Walsingham did in merry sort say,
that he wished himself so good a
servant of God as Lord Burleigh,
but that he had not been at church
for a week past. Now my Lord
Burleigh did gravely reply thus :
' I hold it meet for us to ask God's
grace to keep us sound of heart who
have so much in our power, and to
direct us to the well-doing of all the
people, whom it is easy for us to
injure and ruin. And herein, my
good friends, the special blessing
seemeth meet to be discreetly asked
and wisely worn.' I did not a little
marvel at this good discourse ; to

see how a good man considereth his
weighty charge and striveth to keep
out Satan from corrupting the heart
in the discharge of his duties. How
few have such hearts or such heads !
and therefore shall I note this for
those that read hereafter." (Nugas
Antiques, I. 174, 175.)
Indeed ' how few-' ! And how
few, in the service of the State,
find thus the secret of true great
ness and success !
3 Strype's Annals, VH. 480.
Wright, n. 488 ; who gives us a
facsimile of this interesting letter.
4 Harrington ; Nugas Antiques, L
173. 6 Camden, 558.
• Birch, II. 390; Sir William
Knollys to the Earl of Essex.

Ch. XVII] WILLIAM, LORD BURLEIGH. 605
At one time, she even forbade his name to be
mentioned at the Council table.1
We have reason to believe that others also
mourned his loss, and paid to his memory the
silent tribute of their tears. We mean the Puri
tans, whom he had so often screened from the
severities of the prelates, or released from bonds
and imprisonment, — they, their wives, and their
children. " He was one of the few who have lived and
died in glory."2
1 Nugae Antiquas, I. 244 ; Robert Sidney to Sir John Harrington, in
Markham to Sir Johp Harrington, 1600.
1598-9. Ibid., 314; Sir Robert * Echard, 888.

CHAPTEE XVIII.

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601.

TnE DISCONTENTED HUMOR OF THE COMMONS AT THEIR ASSEMBLING. — Ao-
CKAVATED BY THEIE EXCLUSION FROM THE UPPER HOUSE AT THE OPENING
of the Parliament. — A new Offence. — The Speaker's Petitions and
the Lord Keeper's Answer. — Irreverence of the Commons towauds
the Queen. — The true Reason for their Exclusion. — Monopolies,
the Reason of their Increase. — Extortions under them. — A Bill
INTRODUCED AGAINST THEM. — DEBATE UPON IT. — It IS COMMITTED. —
A new Discussion. — The Subject postponed. — A new Bill intro
duced. — Another Debate. — The Subject recommitted. — Bold Pro
posal IN COMMITTEE. — TlIE HOUSE AGAIN EXCITED. — TlIEIR BOLD AND
novel Course. — Message from the Queen. — Cecil's exultant Com
ments upon it. — Rejoicing of the House. — They tender their Thanks
to the Queen in a Body. — Her Majesty's Reply. — Bills for the
SurrRESsixo of Immoralities. — Bills concerning the Sabbath. — An
Attempt to stifle Freedom of Speech stifled.

The portal of a new century was opened. The
most varied and momentous events produced by
any century of which we have history were wrapped
within it all along to its farther extremity, unsus
pected by the generation who stood upon its thresh
old, although signs of their coming and character
were already floating in the air. Principles adverse
to despotic monarchy and priestly domination, crude
but vigorous ideas of civil rights, and a peculiar
detestation of the Man of Sin, had taken root in
the English mind, and were impelling it to results —
though at terrible cost — which have made the
Northern Isle the queen among nations, the admi
ration of her rivals, and a blessing to the world.

Oh. XVIII.] THE PARLIAMENT OE 1601. 607
It has been our humble task to trace, we trust
not inaccurately, the progress of these various but
blended elements from the point of their first emer
gence to that where they had become a well-defined,
augmenting, but as yet a controllable stream; des
tined, however, first to inundation, then to fertility.
We follow it only for another day's journey.
The tenth and last Parliament of Queen Elizabeth
was opened in the year 1601, on Tuesday, the
twenty-seventh day of October. The Commons
came together in a gloomy mood. The people
throughout the realm were chafing under oppres
sions emanating from the royal prerogative, and
the representatives sympathized with their constit
uents. Even before the House could be organized,
this temper was fanned. They had taken the cus
tomary oath, some before the Lord Steward, — now
the Lord Admiral Charles Howard, Earl of Notting
ham, — others before his deputies. The customary
notice being given, that she awaited her Commons,
they immediately went to the chamber of the Lords,
but found the door closed against them; "and not
withstanding any means that was made by them, it
was still kept shut." Indeed, they were told by a
gentleman usher, who spake to them through the
door, "An ye be not quiet, ye shall all be set in
the stocks."-1 "So they returned back again unto
their own house much discontented," and "taking
it in great disgrace." A few of their number, how
ever, including those who were of her Majesty's
Privy Council, had obtained private entrance to the
1 Townshend, 182.

608 THE PARLIAMENT OE 1601. [Cn. XVHI.
upper House " by some special means," and had
heard the opening speech of the Lord Keeper Eger
ton, which soon after was reported to the House
by Mr. Secretary Cecil.1
When all who had obtained entrance to the up
per House returned, Mr. John Crooke, Eecorder
of London, was chosen Speaker, and the House dis
persed until Friday, the day fixed for his presenta
tion. They then reassembled, and "having stayed
there a good while silent," and receiving no message
from her Majesty, they went to the door of the
upper House, where they were kept waiting half an
hour before they were sent for; another incident
which added to their discontent.2
In reply to the usual petition for freedom of
speech, the Lord Keeper said : " Her Majesty will
ingly consenteth thereto, with this caution, that the
time be not spent in idle and vain matter, paint
ing the same out with froth and volubility of words,
whereby the speakers may seem to gain some re
puted credit by emboldening themselves to contra
diction." To the petition for personal liberty, — by which
was meant that "the members of the Commons,
with their servants and necessary attendants, might
be exempted from all manner of arrests and suits
during the continuance of the Parliament," 3 — the
Lord Keeper replied : " For liberties unto yourselves
and persons, her Majesty hath commanded me to
say unto you all, that she ever intendeth to pre-
1 Townshend, 182-185. D'Ewes, 623. Hansard, I. 911.
2 Townshend, 175. D'Ewes, 600, 621.
8 D'Ewes, 16.

Ch. XVIII] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 609
serve the liberties of the House, and granteth free
dom even unto the meanest members thereof. But
her Majesty's pleasure is you should not maintain
and keep with you notorious persons either for life
or behavior, and desperate debtors who never come
abroad, fearing laws, but at these times ; pettifog
gers and vipers of the commonwealth ; and com
mon solicitors that set dissension between man and
man ; and men of like condition to these." 1
Boom was now made for her Majesty to pass
through the Commons to the great chamber. In
doing so, she silently offered her hand to the
Speaker, who kissed it. A few voices only said,
" God bless your Majesty ! " though upon such oc
casions heretofore not a tongue withheld the salu
tation. The crowd affording insufficient room, her
Majesty waved her hand that they should recede,
and one of the gentlemen ushers cried out, " Back,
masters ! make room ! " " We can make no more,"
replied a sullen voice in the rear, "an you will
hang us." Her Majesty raised her head and looked
whence the voice proceeded, but affected not to
hear and passed on.2 These were strange tokens
of ill-humor ; but little knew these Commoners why
their aged queen, striving to appear hale, could not
address their Speaker or rebuke the rudeness which
she had heard. Little did they suspect what an
effort it cost her so to pass through their midst
that her tottering weakness might not appear.
The true cause of their exclusion at the opening
of the Parliament was undoubtedly concealed from
1 Townshend, 177,178. D'Ewes, • Townshend, 178, 179. D'Ewes,
601, 602. Hansard, I. 909. 602.
VOL. III. 77

610 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Ch. XVHL
the Commons, for her courtiers well knew that
she wished to veil her growing infirmities. Age had
so enfeebled her, that she was ill able to bear her
heavy robes of state. It had so happened, that, just
as the Commons were approaching to hear the
Lord Keeper's speech, she sank from her throne,
and would have fallen had she not been caught in
the arms of the nobleman who bore the sword of
state. The Lord Keeper, however, had proceeded
with all haste, that her Majesty might get into
the open air as soon as possible. During this state
of things, while all was confusion, and while all
were anxious for the queen, the door had been
shut ; and those within had thought of anything
else than of those who stood waiting and grum
bling without.1
After they had fairly moved in the prosecution
of business, Mr. Lieffe, reminding Sir William Knollys
of his promise, called for information of the Lord
Keeper's speech. He also complained of the vio
lence perpetrated by an usher of the House of
Lords. Mr. Comptroller gave a vague pledge that
any particular member should receive satisfaction
for the rough words of the usher, and referred to
Mr. Secretary Cecil for the other matter. The
Secretary then gave a summary of the Lord Keep
er's speech ; the two chief points being the danger
of the realm through the malice of Spain, and the
necessity for money to furnish means of protection.2
The reign of Elizabeth — during the long term
1 Campbell, H 187.
• Townshend, 182 - 185. D'Ewes, 623. Hansard, I. 911.

Oh. XVIIL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 611
of forty-two years — had been one of unprecedented
activity and progress. Besides the awakening of
the national mind to the rudiments of religious and
civil liberty and to new literary conceptions,* the
pressure of events from within and from without
had elicited a vast amount of skilful and laborious
service in affairs of state and in military operations.
These latter developments had laid the crown un
der obligations to so large an extent, that remu
nerations and encouragements were required other
than could be afforded by the ordinary emoluments
of office. Elizabeth had also her favorites, hun
gry and importunate for bounty. For all this her
revenues were insufficient. To meet the exigency
she had resorted, almost without limit, to an ex
pedient far more irritating and oppressive than di
rect taxation or forced loans. This was the issuing
of letters patent,1 which gave private persons the
1 I have made no mention of tho Mr. Neal (I. 212), that the Arch-
Parliament of 1597-8, because its bishop, who certainly used the in-
Journal affords material only for an fluence of his sacred office to control
episode. The Commons made no tho elections of the commonalty
attempts against the government of (Strype's Whitgift, 508), had thus
the Church ( Strype's Whitgift, 508); succeeded in " modelling " the lower
heard, but utterly neglected, one House.
bill to remove " griefs inflicted upon In addition to these things, I think
certain of tho clergy" (D'Ewes, it necessary here to state how the
567) ; and projected others against same subject which I now introduce
the practices and abuses of the was then treated. Since it was
spiritual courts. (Ibid., 555-558, first brought, before the Commons
passim. Strype's Whitgift, 508, in 1571 {ante, Vol. I. p. 386), the
509 ; Appendix, Book IV. No. queen's patents had increased to an
XXXV.) Their seeming apathy enormous extent, and their oppres-
concerning ecclesiastical affairs I sive operations in proportion. In this
am inclined to attribute to tho ar- House of Commons, on the seventh
mistico tacitly established between and eighth days of November, 1597,
the ecclesiastical parties (ante, p. "the enormities growing by these
680), rather than to suppose, with patents " were freely discussed. A

612

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601.

[Ch. XVHI

sole privilege of selling certain articles of traffic, most
of which were in general demand, and many of
which were of general necessity. These privileges
the patentees had farmed to others for stipulated
considerations. These farmers had put their own
prices upon the commodities of which they thus
had control, making many of the necessaries of life
costly beyond reason or endurance. Nor was this
all ; for they were guilty of oppression even beyond
the limits of their patents, exacting sums at will
from whoever they might accuse, or threaten to

committee was also appointed to
take informations thereof, so that
measures might be the more dis
creetly devised for their redress.
(D'Ewes, 554, 555.) Afterwards,
" a motion for a bill of petition to
her Majesty touching monopolies "
was made ; but was supplanted by
the appointment of a committee " to
set down in writing what by them
should be thought fit to be delivered
to her Majesty by the mouth of the
Speaker in behalf of the House."
(Ibid., 570.) This was done. The
writing — softened by " the humble
thanks " of the House for what " the
queen had already done in proceed
ing to trial of these things " (Ibid.,
* Mr. Hume signifies that this pe
tition, or address, was made, was gra
ciously received though vaguely an
swered, and that thanks for the answer
were returned, — all before the last day
of the Parliament. (III. 203 ) He was
probably led into this mistake by the
exceedingly blind manner in which
D'Ewes has stated the case (p. 513). But
a careful comparison of this record with
a clause in her Majesty's reply to the
Speaker's valedictory reveals that the
" humble thanks " mentioned by D'Ewes
had reference, not to any answer from

547) — was read and approved;
the Speaker promising " to deliver
its substance and reasons " (Ibid.,
573) on the last day of the Parlia
ment (Ibid., 554).* In his parting
address to the throne on the 9th of
February, he fulfilled his promise.
We only know that he prayed " that
the grieft touching these monopolies
might be respected, and the griev
ances coming of them might be re
dressed" (Ibid., 646); even deliv
ering word for word the writing
presented to him by the House
(Ibid., 648). But of these words
we have no record. On this point
of his address her Majesty replied
through the Lord Keeper Egerton : —
her, but to some feeble show of inquiry
into these abuses which her Majesty
had previously made.
If she had already been petitioned
upon the subject, and had returned an
answer, — an answer eliciting thanks, —
what could it have been other than im
pertinence to address her again upon
the same subject, and in presence of
both Houses ? And what could her
second reply have been, under such cir
cumstances, but a derogation of princely
dignity to which no Tudor ever sub
mitted ?

Cn. XVHI.]

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601.

613

accuse, of encroaching upon their parchment rights.1
Hence thousands of grievances arose, which can be
more easily imagined than specified.
It is due to the memory of that patriotic states
man, Lord Burleigh, here to state that no suit to
her Majesty for these grants ever obtained his favor.
In these matters, her action was of her own sole
will and pleasure, and against his outspoken pro
test, that •• Monopolies wrere cankers of the Com
monwealth." 2
Against these cankers, the last Parliament had
remonstrated, and had received in reply a vague
promise of redress. But four years had passed, and
the evil was " nothing bettered, but rather grew
worse." Hence it was, that this House of Com
mons had assembled in a surly mood, sympathizing

" Touching monopolies, her Ma
jesty hoped that her dutiful and
loving subjects would not take away
her prerogative, which is tho chief-
est flower in her garden, and the
principal and head pearl in her
crown and diadem; but that they
would rather leave that to her dis
posal. And as her Majesty hath
proceeded to trial of them [her
patents] already, so she promiseth
to continue that they shall all be
examined to abide the trial and true
touchstone ofthe law " (Ibid., 547) ;
. . . . " that she will take care of
these monopolies ; and that their
griefs shall bo redressed ; if not, she
will give her liberty to proceed in
making a new law the next Parlia
ment" (Ibid , 646).
Reading these words, we are con
strained to exclaim, 'What had come
over the spirit of the queen ? Was

it the shadow of a waning life ?
Was it a new-born sense of the
vanity of rank, regality, and royal
prerogative ? AVas it gloom in
duced by reading a handwriting
like that which startled the rioting
king of Babylon ? AVas it the dawn
of a coming life, paling the gewgaws
of the present ? God only knows.
But certainly it is with amazement
that we find the imperious daughter
of Henry hoping that her subjects
would not touch that priceless pre
rogative of which she had ever been
so jealous, upon the least approach
to which she had always roused her
self like a lioness from her lair.
We leave the fact for the study of
the wise.
1 Hume, PI. 236, 237. Rapin,
II. 154.
' Peck, I. Book I. p. 41.

614 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Ch. XVHL
with a people who were thus suffering through the
royal prerogative. The attack upon these monopo
lies was opened by Mr. Dyott of the Middle Temple,
who offered a bill entitled " An Act against Patents
purporting particular power to be given to sundry
patentees." But, as the bill was very long, he gave
way to Mr. Lawrence Hide, also of the Middle
Temple, who offered a bill of only twelve lines, being
" An Exposition of the Common Law touching those
kind of Patents commonly called Monopolies." The
reading of it was waived by the Speaker in a way
which occasioned some grumbling.1 Two days after
wards it was again offered, and the House clamor
ously demanded its reading. After it had been
read, Mr. Spicer, Burgess for Warwick, said upon the
question for commitment or engrossment: "This bill
may touch the prerogative royal ; which, as I learned
the last Parliament, is so transcendent, that the eye
of the subject may not aspire thereunto. Far be
it therefore from me, that the state and preroga
tive royal of the prince should be tied by me or
any other subject  I speak not either re
pining at her Majesty's prerogative, or misliking
the reasons of her grants ; but out of grief to see
the town wherein I serve pestered and continually
vexed with the substitutes, or vicegerents, of these
monopolies, who are ever ill-disposed and danger
ous subjects  The substitutes of the patent
ees for aqua-vitae and vinegar not long since came
there, and forthwith stayed the sale of both these
commodities ; and unless the sellers would compound
with them, they would have them before the Coun-
1 Townshend, 224.

Ch. XVHI] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 615
cil. I examined their patent, and found that in
their proceedings they had exceeded their author
ity in no less than three points  Yet one
of these fellows stands indicted as an obstinate re
cusant ; yea, when her Majesty hath been spoken
of and prayed for, he hath refused to stir hat or
lip  Such men, I say — transgressing the
royal commission and abusing the warrant of her
Council for the more favorable execution of their
patents — are evil-disposed and dangerous subjects.1
My humble motion is, that we may use some cir
cumspective care to prevent this mischief; especially
that we proceed by petition,2 that so we interfere
not with her Majesty's prerogative."
" For my own part," said Mr. Francis Bacon, " I
ever allowed of the prerogative royal ; and it is
such as I hope I shall never see discussed. The
queen, as she is our sovereign, hath both an en
larging and restraining power. By her prerogar
tive, she may set at liberty things restrained by
statute law or otherwise; and she may restrain
things that be at liberty. For the first, she may
grant non obstante, contrary to the penal laws. For
the second, she may grant to the inventor or dis
coverer of some things, beneficial to the common
wealth an exclusive right to use the same himself,
or by his deputies, for a certain time ; which things
otherwise every subject of the realm might use.
So, too, she may give to one man a license to trans
port corn when there is a glut in market; or to
import it when there is a scarcity  But, Mr.
Speaker," — pointing to the bill,— "this is no stranger
> Townshend, 230, 231. a H>id., 241.

616 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. |Cn. XVTfl.
in this place ; but a stranger in this vestment. The
custom hath been ever  by petition to desire
to have our grievances redressed, especially when
the remedy toucheth her Majesty so nigh in pre
rogative  I say, and I say again, that we
ought not to deal or meddle with, or judge of, her
Majesty's prerogative. I wish every man, therefore,
to be careful in this point. I have discharged my
duty on her Majesty^ behalf, and do protest I
have delivered my conscience."
" He that would go about to debate her Majesty's
prerogative roj'al, must walk warily," said Dr. Ben
net. " In respect of a grievance out of the city for
which I serve, I think myself bound to speak ; I
mean a monopoly of salt. Fire and water are not
more necessary. But for other monopolies of cards,"
— at this word Sir Walter Ealeigh blushed, — "dice,
starch, &c, they are, because monopolies, very hate
ful, but not so hurtful. There be a great difference
in monopolies; and I think this of salt must walk
in the fore rank. Now, seeing we are come to the
means of redress, let us see it be so mannerly and
handsomely handled, that after a commitment it
may have good passage."
Mr. Hide said : " I confess that I owe duty to
God and loyalty to my prince. I made this bill,
and I think I understand it. Far be it from this
heart to think, this tongue to speak, or this hand
to write, anything in prejudice or derogation of
her Majesty's prerogative royal and the State 
As I think it no derogation to the omnipotency
of God to say, -He can do no ill,' so I think it
none to the person or majesty of the queen to

Ch. XVHI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 617
say the like in some proportion. Yet, because two
eyes may see more than one, I humbly pray that
there may be a commitment of this bill, lest some
thing may be therein which may prove the bane
and overthrow thereof at the time of passinc."
"I know," said Mr. Francis Moore, "the queen's
prerogative is a .thing curious to be dealt withal ;
yet all grievances are not comparable. I cannot
utter with my tongue, or conceive, the great griev
ances that the town and county for which I serve
suffer by some of these monopolies. They bring
the general profit into a private hand; and the
end is beggary and bondage to the subject. We
have a law for the true and faithful currying of
leather. There is a patent that sets all at liberty,
notwithstanding the statute. And to what purpose
is it to do anything by Act of Parliament tvhen
the queen "will undo the same by her prerogative ? Out
of the spirit of humility I speak it, — there is no
act of hers that hath been, or is, more derogatory
to her own majesty, more odious to the subject,
or more dangerous to the commonwealth, than the
granting of these monopolies."
Mr. Martin then said : " I speak for a town that
grieves and pines, and for a county that groaneth,
under the burden of monstrous and unconscionable
substitutes of the monopolies of starch, tin, fish, cloth,
oil, vinegar, salt, and I know not what; nay, what
not? The principal commodities both of my town
and county are engrossed into the hands of these
bloodsuckers of the commonwealth  If they
be let alone to suck up the best and principallest
commodities which the earth hath given us, what
VOL. III. 78

618 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Ch. XVHL
shall become of us from whom the fruits of our own
soil and the commodities of our own labor, which
with the sweat of our brows even up to the knees
in mire and dirt w*e have labored for, shall be
taken from us by warrant of supreme authority,
which the poor subject dares not gainsay?"
Sir George Moore assented to the. good matter
of the bill, but objected to its form as a bill. " There
be three persons," said he, " her Majesty, the pa
tentee, and the subject ; her Majesty the head, the
patentee the hand, and the subject the foot. Now
here is our case ; the head giveth power to the
hand, the hand oppresseth the foot, the foot riseth
against the head ! We know the power of her Majesty
cannot be restrained by any Act. Why therefore
should we thus talk? Admit we should make the
statute with a non obstante; yet the queen may
grant a patent with a non obstante to cross this non
obstante. I think, therefore, that it agreeth more
with the wisdom and gravity of this House to pro
ceed rather by petition than by bill."
Mr. Wingfield reminded the House of the pro
ceedings of the last Parliament. " At the close of
it our Speaker moved her Majesty by way of pe
tition ; who answered by the Lord Keeper, ' That
she would take care of these monopolies, and our
griefs should be redressed ; but if they were not,
she would give us liberty to proceed in making a
law the next Parliament.' Mr. Speaker, they are
not ! The wound is still bleeding ! We grieve
under the sore, and are without remedy."
'•' If," said Mr. Downall, •¦' we proceed by way of
petition, we can have no more gracious answer

Ch. XVIIL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 619
than we had the last Parliament; since which we
have had no reformation. The reason why I think
we have had none is, that the cries against monopo
lies have never been greater or more vehement."
"Yet," rejoined Mr. Johnson, "I would we were
all so happy, that her Majesty's gracious self had
heard but the fifth part of that which every one
of us hath heard this day. I think verily, in my
soul and conscience, we should not be more de
sirous in having these monopolies called in, than
she would be earnest therein herself."
The bill was then committed.1 While yet in the
hands of the committee, it was diversely discussed
by different members as follows. One stated, that
in his own neighborhood the effect of a patent for
salt had been to raise the price from sixteen pence
a bushel to fourteen and even fifteen shillings.
Mr. Solicitor Fleming stated that her Majesty
had directed her Attorney and himself, in the be
ginning of the last Hilary-term, to take speedy
and special cause for these patents.
" Last Hilary-term ! " exclaimed Sir Eobert Wroth.
"Why not before? There was time enough ever
since the last Parliament. I speak it, and I speak
it boldly, these patents are worse than ever. I
have heard in this House that there is a clause
of revocation in these patents. If so, what needeth
this stir by scire facias, quo warranto, and I know
not what, when it is but to send for the patentees
and cause a re-delivery ? Why, since the last Parlia
ment, when we were promised that these griev
ances should be redressed, there have been divers
1 Townshend, 230 - 236. D'Ewes, 644 - 647. Hansard, I. 923 - 928.

620 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Ch. XVIII.
patents granted ! Do you ask/ What ? ' - How many?'
Listen ! Patents for currants, iron, powder, cards,
horns, ox-shin-bones, train-oil, transportation of
leather, lists of cloth, ashes, bottles, glasses, bags,
shreds of gloves, anise-seed, vinegar, sea-coal, steel,
aqua-vitae, brushes, pots, salt, saltpetre, lead, acci-
dences, oil, calamint-stone, oil of blubber, smoked
herring, and divers others."
" Is not bread there ? " exclaimed Mr. Hackwell
of Lincoln's Inn.
" Bread ! " " Bread ! " " Bread ! " cried one and an
other through the House.
" No ! " quoth Hackwell. " But if order be not
taken for these things, to put a stop to them,
bread will be there before the next Parliament."
After the commotion had subsided, Mr. Town
shend 1 said : " Though the petition made the last
Parliament took no effect, we shall wrong her Ma
jesty and forget ourselves if we think to speed
no better now. That petition as drawn by a com
mittee was delivered word for word by the Speaker
at the end of Parliament. But we may hope for
success by sending our Speaker forthwith, with
humble suit not only to repeal all monopolies griev
ous to the subject, but also that it would please
her Majesty to give us leave to enact that they
may be of no more force than they are at common
law without the strength of her prerogative. Let
the Speaker also state that, though we might note
do this, assuring ourselves that her Majesty would
not deny the passing of a bill so reasonable, yet,
as the cause so nearly toucheth her prerogative,
1 The writer of the Journal which I cite all along.

Ch. XVHI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 621
we would rather not proceed therein without her
privity and consent. I would also that every mem
ber of this House might legibly write down such
monopolies as are grievous to himself, his county,
of his town, the said writings to be delivered by
the Speaker himself to her Majesty."
It had already been sharply mooted in the House
whether they should proceed in this business by
petition only, or by a decisive bill. There was a
prevailing disposition for the latter course, although
it might seem an encroachment upon the preroga
tive royal ; although the queen for that reason
might resent and reject it ; and although, even with
a clause excluding her dispensing power, and even
should it become an Act, she might afterwards make
it of no effect by first dispensing with the clause
and then with the Act itself. Thus, while all
were agreed that the monstrous evil in hand should
be removed, the question, - What is the most poli
tic course ? ' was really complicated and embarrass
ing:. Mr. Townshend's motion seemed to meet all
these delicate points honorably and squarely. It
was respectful to the prerogative, respectful to
the queen, respectful to her constant profession of
motherly regard for the weal of her subjects, re
spectful to the House itself in frankly avowing
their right to proceed by bill in virtue of their
own prerogative. The motion instantly brought
Mr. Francis Bacon to his feet, full of enthusiasm
and exultation.
" Why ! " he exclaimed, " you have now the readi
est course that can possibly be devised! I would
wish no further order to be taken but to prefer

622 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Cn. XVHL
the wise and discreet speech made by the young
gentleman that last spake, — even the youngest in
this Assembly. I tell you that even out of the
mouth of babes and sucklings the true and most
certain course is propounded unto us."
The further consideration of the subject was post
poned until Monday next, it being now Saturday.1
On Monday, the twenty-third day of November,
the bill " to abolish all these monopolies " 2 was
read. Mr. Spicer again spoke. In reference to his
former remarks, he said : " I think it good that this
bill were committed. I am no apostate, but stick
to my former faith, that the way of petition will
be our safest course. It is to no purpose to offer
to tie her Majesty's hands by way of Act of Parlia
ment when she may loose herself at her pleasure.
I think it a course both unacceptable and uncer
tain. The best way is to have a committee to
consider what course shall be proceeded in ; for
I doubt not we be all agreed on the reformation,
though not on the process by which to effect it."
" God hath given that power to absolute princes,"
said Mr. Davies, " which he attributeth to himself,
— -I have said that ye are gods.' And as attri
butes he hath given them majesty, justice, mercy.
Majesty, in respect of the honor that the subject
showeth unto his prince ; justice, in respect he can
do no wrong, — therefore the law is (1 Henry VHL),
that the king cannot contrary to Imo dispossess the
subject of his rights ; 3 mercy, in respect he giveth
1 Townshend, 238-240. D'Ewes, * By these words in italics I have
647, G48. Hansard, I. 929, 930. paraphrased the words in the Jour-
8 Hume, HI. 237. nal, — " cannot commit disseisin."

CH. XVHI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 623
leave to his subjects to right themselves by law.
 Wherefore I think it most fit to proceed
by bill, and not by petition."
Mr. Secretary Cecil then said: "The question
was, the most convenient ivay to reform these griev
ances. But after disputation we have not received
the expected fruit. Should every man take leave
to speak for the common subject, I am afraid, in
these vast powers of our minds, we shall dispute
the project and reformation quite out of doors.
 I am a born Englishman and a fellow-
member of this House, and would desire to live
no day when I should detract either from the
House or the prince's power. I am servant to
the queen ; and before I would consent to debase
or abridge her prerogative, I would wish my tongue
cut out of my head. I am sure there were law
makers before there were laws.1  For my own
part, I like not these courses should be taken.
And you, Mr. Speaker, should perform the charge
her Majesty gave unto you at the beginning of
this Parliament, not to receive bills of this nature ;
for her Majesty's ears are open to all our griev
ances and her hands stretched out to every man's
petition. For the matter of access, I like it well,
so it be first moved and the way prepared. I
had rather all the patents were burned, than her
Majesty should lose the hearts of so many sub
jects as it is pretended she will  I think it
very fit to have a new commitment, to consider
what her Majesty may grant, and what not; and
what course we shall take, and upon what points."
1 In which he was much mistaken, if he meant promulgcrs of laws.

624 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Cn. XVHI.
Mr. Montague, premising that the prerogative
royal had ever been maintained and allowed by the
laws, moved, " That we be suitors to her Majesty,
that the patentees shall have no other remedies than
by the laws of the realm they may have ; and that
an Act be drawn accordingly."
To which Mr. Martin responded : " I think the
common grievance and the queen's prerogative have
inspired the gentleman to make this motion. And
because the House seems greatly to applaud it, may
it please you, Mr. Speaker, to put it to the ques
tion, whether it shall be determined of by a com
mittee ? "
So the matter was again referred ; the committee
having in charge the consideration not only of Mr.
Townshend's motion, but also of those made by Mr.
Secretary Cecil and Mr. Montague.1
At the meeting of the committee in the after
noon, Mr. Davies again urged his former motion to
proceed by bill, adding : " Let us do generously and
bravely, like Parliament men. Let us send, ourselves,
for these patentees and for their patents, and cancel
them before their faces. Let us arraign them, as in
times past, at the bar, and send them to the Tower,
there to remain until they have made a good fine
to the queen, and some part of restitution to some
of the poorest that have been oppressed by them,"
— the boldest challenge of action under the royal
prerogative of ordaining and dispensing2 which was
ever uttered during Elizabeth's reign. And yet we
1 Townshend, 241-243. D'Ewes, some ofthe patents "dispensed"
649. Hansard, I. 930-932. the patentees from obeying certain
* I say " dispensing," because penal statutes.

Ch. XATIL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 625
are told that both courtiers and country gentlemen
in the House admitted the restraining and enlarging
power of the royal prerogative.1 Perhaps they did
admit it as a power permitted by long usage. But
as a matter of legal right, we think it was denied
by some in this House ; as by the very bill before
them, and pre-eminently by this outspoken propo
sition to annul what the crown had granted. We
contend, therefore, that all " this discourse was " not
11 more worthy of a Turkish divan than of an English
House of Commons." 2 The absolutism of the mon
arch was arraigned from step to step throughout " the
discourse." But the conflict of opinion on the point
of expediency was further shown by words from
Mr. Martin.
" The gentleman that last spake," said he, " spake
most honestly, learnedly, and stoutly. Yet thus much
I must needs say, — his zeal hath masked his rea
son; and that, I think, was the cause of his fervent
motion. I desire that it may be cooled by a peti
tion in most dutiful and humble terms, most fitting
to the majesty of the queen and the gravity of this
House. So, I doubt not, our actions will have suc
cess." 3
But nothing was concluded at this meeting of
the committee, who adjourned until the afternoon
of the next day.4 " But in the morning of the next
day"5 there were loud confusion and murmuring
in the House concerning these detested monopolies.
This roused Mr. Secretary Cecil, who said: "The
1 Hume, III. 237. 4 Ibid., 245. D'Ewes, 650. Han-
• Ibid. sard, I. 932.
' Townshend, 244. * Hansard, I. 932.
VOL. m. 79

626 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Cn. XA*HI
duty I owe, and my zeal to extinguish monopolies,
compel me to speak, that I may satisfy those who
fancy that these evils will not be redressed. I have
been a member of this House in six or seven Parlia
ments, yet never did I see it in so great confusion.
I believe there was never in any Parliament a more
tender point handled than the liberty of the subject
and the prerogative royal of the prince. What an
indignity, then, is it to each, that when any is dis
cussing this point he should be cried and coughed
down ! " which had been repeatedly the case. " This "
doing " is more fit for a grammar school than a
Parliament  Why ! we have had speech upon
speech, without order or discretion ! One would have
had us proceed by bill to see if the queen would deny
it! Another, that the patents should be brought
here before us and cancelled. This were bravely
done ! Others would have us proceed by petition,
which doubtless is best. But under the first and
second propositions, I think we should have had as
bad success as the Devil himself could have wished
in so good a cause  I wish every man to rest
satisfied until the committee have brought in their
resolutions according to your commandment," — in
timating darkly that some measure was on foot by
which " these evils " would be redressed.1
The excitement of the House had become intense.
At the outset it had been acknowledged that they
were throwing themselves into collision with that
mysterious prerogative royal which had ever been
counted " so transcendental that the eye of the sub
ject might not aspire thereunto." Yet they were
1 Townshend, 246, 247. D'Ewes, 651. Hansard, I. 932, 933.

Cn. XVIIL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 627
holding it front to front with themselves, and look
ing it in the eye.1 Though the dispensing power
of the crown had been urged against proceeding
by bill, though that power was admitted as an his
torical fact, and though cautions had been uttered
against incurring the royal displeasure, there had
been no recession. Otherwise. Something had been
said about " the foot rising against the head " ; about
" seeing whether the queen would refuse a bill " ; and
about " bravely cancelling her grants at the bar of
the House." Never had such language been heard,
such indignation and daring been shown, or so stern
a spirit been roused, since the crown had rested
upon the Virgin Queen. All was reported at White
hall by the courtiers who were of the House. Her
Majesty saw the peril. She saw the "danger of
losing the hearts of many subjects," of a formidable
struggle with her Commons, and that their spirit
1 The sensitiveness of the House neither to attend any but the queen
touching their own prerogative, and only."
their determinedness to sustain their " I should be very sorry," replied
own proper dignity, were strikingly Mr. Secretary, " to detract from any
manifested. " I think it fit," Sir particular member of this House,
Robert Cecil had said, inadvertent- much more from the general state.
ly, when stating a certain matter, My meaning was mistaken, and my
" that Mr. Speaker should- attend words misconstrued." (Townshend.
my Lord Keeper therein." 190,191. D'Ewes, 627.)
" Attend ! " exclaimed Sir Ed- A week afterwards, when can-
ward Hobbie. " Attend ! It is well vassing the same subject, he said :
known that the Speaker of the " I mean not to repeat my former
House is the mouth of the whole error, for which I . was excepted
realm ; and that the whole state unto ; that is, that Mr. Speaker or
of the commonalty of a kingdom any member should attend the Lord
should attend one person, I see no Keeper, but that four might be
reason. I refer it to the consid- assigned to go to the Lord Keeper.
oration of the House. Only this I say, to 170 to the Lord Keeper to
proposition I hold,— that our Speak- know," &e. (Townshend, 212.
cr is to be commanded by none ; D'Ewes, 636.)

628 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Cn XVHI
must be either crushed or soothed. Crushing was
perilous. Soothing was safe ; and she had a woman's
skill. As she had discreetly avoided a struggle in
15T1,1 and openly receded in 1566,2 what less could
she do now, when the signs of strength and deter
mination were so much more portentous ?
While the House, yielding to the intimation of
Cecil, were trying " to rest satisfied " for a while,
the reason of that intimation was suddenly revealed.
The very next day, after the transaction of some
business " of no great moment," the Speaker rose,
but without a word, until, by exciting the wonder
of the House, he had procured perfect silence. At
length he spake "to this effect."
"It pleased her Majesty to command me to at
tend her yesterday in the afternoon, from whom I
am to deliver unto you her most gracious message.
She yieldeth you hearty thanks for your special
regard of those things which concern her kingdom ;
 for your speedy resolution in making so early
and free a subsidy, which hath commonly succeeded,
and never went before, your counsels ; 3 and for
1 Ante, Vol. I. p. 385. commenced until November 18th.
2 Ibid., p. 293. ¦ Lord Campbell has, therefore, made
3 The amount of the subsidy (an an important mistake in saying, " a
extraordinary one) had been defi- liberal subsidy being granted in
nitely agreed upon by the House on return for the abolition of monopo-
Saturday, the seventh day of No- lies." (Lives of the Chancellors,
vember. On .Monday, the ninth, II. 188.)
a committee were appointed "to AVhile the subsidy was under
draw into the form of a bill the consideration, Mr. Serjeant Heyle
Articles agreed upon." Thus, al- asserted : " All we have is her Majes-
though the bill did not pass until ty's ; and she may lawfully, at her
December 5th, the subsidy was pleasure, take it from us. Yea, she
determined before the agitation of hath as much right to all our lands
the rr.anopoly patents, which was not and goods as to any revenue of her

Ch. XVIII.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 629
your loyalty. : . . . . She further said, that as she had
ever held our good most dear, so the last day of her
life and of our lives should witness the same ; and
that not the least of her subjects was grieved but
she herself was touched. She appealed to the throne
of Almighty God how careful she hath been, and
will be, to defend her people from all oppressions.
She said, that she had understood through some
of her Council, and divers petitions, that divers pa
tents which she had granted were grievous to her
subjects; and that the substitutes of the patentees
had used great oppressions. But, she said, she never
assented to grant anything which was malum in se.
And if in the abuse of her grant there be anything
evil (which she took knowledge there was), she
herself would take present order of reformation. I
cannot express unto you the apparent indignation
of her Majesty towards these abuses. She said that
her kingly prerogative was tender; and therefore
desireth us not to fear or doubt of her careful refor
mation ; for, she said,  further order should be
taken presently, and not in future ; that some patents
should be forthwith repealed, some suspended, and
none put into execution but such as should first
crown." This monstrous doctrine man of character. " But Lord Camp-
was received with outbursts of in- bell furnishes us with contempora-
dignation and scorn ; and when the neous evidence that he was a man
lawyer, endeavoring to contend of infamous " character," and gives
against the storm, challenged that us reason to believe that his servile
ho could prove his doctrine by an- speech in the House was uttered to
cient precedents, he was again in- curry favor with the queen, at whose
terrupted by tumult, until he yielded hands he was then hoping for pro-
the contest "and sat down . (Town- motion to one of the most important
ihend. 205. D'Ewes, 633.) Mr. offices in the kingdom. (Lives of
Hume says of this Serjeant Heyle, the Chancellors, II. 184 - 187.)
that " he was an eminent lawyer, a

630 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Cn. XVTH
have a trial according to the law for the good of
the people. Against the abuses her wrath was so
incensed, that she said that she neither could nor
would suffer such to escape with impunity 
Now we see that the axe of her princely justice is
laid to the root of the tree ; and so we see her
gracious goodness hath anticipated our counsels.
God make us thankful, and send her long to reign
among us ! "
There had "seemed to be some danger that a
long and glorious reign would have a shameful and
disastrous end."1 But the prerogative royal was
spared, the prerogative of the Commons was left
intact, the queen's character was presented in a new
light, the rights of the people were recognized, the
bill was rendered needless, petition was forestalled,
and the excitement was appeased, by the timely
interposition of the queen. Again she had receded
before the gathering storm, and adroitly escaped its
possible fury.
After a little pause and some whispered talk, Mr.
Secretary Cecil, exulting in his very soul for the oil
thus thrown upon the troubled waters, gave vent to
his inward joy. " Note," said he, " there are no pa
tents of force which shall not presently be revoked !
for what patent soever is granted, there shall be left
for its overthrow a liberty equal to the law 
There is no patent, the execution whereof hath not
been injurious. Would that they had never been
granted ! I hope there shall never be more ! "
" Amen ! " " Amen ! " " Amen ! " resounded through
the House. 1 Macaulay, I. 59 (New York 8vo. edit., 1849).

Ch. XVIII] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 631
"  I dare assure you that henceforth there
shall no more be granted. They shall all be re
voked  A proclamation general will notify her
Majesty's resolution in this 'behalf. Every man shall
have salt as cheap as he can buy or make it. They
who have cold stomachs or weak shall have the
same benefit for brandy, beer, and the like. Train-oil
shall go the same way. Oil of blubber shall march
in equal rank. Brushes and bottles shall endure the
same judgment. The patent for sail-cloth, if it be
not called in, shall be. The proclamation against
woad shall be revoked ; only her Majesty prayeth
thus much, that when she cometh on progress to
see you, she be not driven out of your towns by
your suffering it to infect the air too near them.1
Those that desire to go sprucely in their ruffs may
do it at less charge, for the patent for starch shall
be repealed. Other patents shall be suspended and
left to the law  But I must tell you, there is
no reason that all should be revoked, for the queen
means not to be swept out of her prerogative. I
say, they shall all be suspended, if the law do not
warrant them  Yet, as a caution, I must say,
that whatsoever is subject to public exposition2 can
not be good. Why,3 Parliament matters are ordi
nary talk in the streets ! In my coach I have been
surrounded by a crowd who shouted, ' God prosper
those who further, the overthrow of monopolies!
God send the prerogative touch not our liberty!'
1 The queen had a remarkable a Townshend.
antipathy to the odor of this plant, * Ibid.
and by proclamation had forbidden
its cultivation.

632 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Ch. XVHI.
I will not imagine that any one here was of such
an assembly. Yet will I give you this note. The
time was never more apt to disorder and make ill in
terpretations of good meanings. I think those per
sons would be glad that all sovereignty were con
verted into popularity  But I must crave your
favors a little longer. I have held the favor of this
House as dear as my life. Yet I have been told
that I deserved to be taxed yesterday of the House.
My zeal to have the business go forward hopefully,
and my fear to displease her Majesty by a harsh
and rash proceeding, made me so much lay aside
my discretion, that I said the House might rather
be termed a school than a council, or words to that
effect. But by this if any think I called him
• school-bov,' he both mistakes and wrongs me."
Mr. Francis Moore then moved that the Speaker
present to her Majesty the thanks of the House
for her princely goodness in voluntarily freeing her
subjects from the thraldom of the monopolies, and
that he should also ask her pardon for extravagant
speeches made in the House. To which Mr. Wing-
field replied, that nothing could have been more
acceptable to her subjects than her Majesty's mes
sage ; that a sentence of everlasting happiness could
not have moved him to more outward show of joy.1
He therefore assented to the motion for thanks, but
objected to the other proposition ; saying, " to accuse
ourselves by excusing a fault with which we are
not charged, were a thing in my opinion inconven
ient, and unfitting the wisdom of this House." So
1 Mr. Hume very unjustly represents him as saying, that " he could
not have /eft more joy." (IH. 238.)

Ch. XVHI.J THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 633
also said Mr. George Moore and Mr. Francis Bacon.
It was finally concluded, "that thanks should be
rendered by the Speaker," accompanied by twelve
others named. But her Majesty refused to receive
any expression of thanks until " by a more effectual
consummation she had completed that work ; at
which time," she said, " she would be well pleased to
receive their loves with thanks, and to return to
them her best favors."1
We cannot recite the many curious utterances
of the wild joy which now pervaded the Commons,2
but must hasten to the close of this important
transaction. The queen having sent word that she
would receive and welcome such of the House,
without limit of number, as might choose to attend
upon her, the Speaker, with about one hundred and
forty members, repaired to Whitehall on Monday,
the thirtieth day of November. After her Majesty
had taken her seat under the cloth of state in the
Council-Chamber, the members of the House en
tered, and the Speaker, " after three low reverences,"
addressed her to this effect : —
" Most Sacred and Most Gracious Sovereign : We,
your faithful, loyal, and most obedient subjects and
Commons,  do in all dutifulness and humble
ness come to present  our most humble and
thankful acknowledgment of your most gracious
message,  and our thanks for your Majesty's
.most abundant goodness extended and performed
to us  Before we have called, your provident
1 Townshend, 248 -253. D'Ewes, 657. Hansard I. 938. Hume, DL
661-654. Hansard, I. 933 - 937. 238.
• Townshend, 257, 258. D'Ewes,
VOL. III. 80

634 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Ch. XVIH
grace and all-deserving goodness have watched over
us for our good ; more ready to give than we can
desire, much less deserve. The attribute most proper
unto God — to perform all that he promiseth —
 we must render unto you,  as even now
your most gracious Proclamation (of your own only
mere motion and special grace for the good of all
your people) doth witness unto us. We come not,
one of ten, to render thanks, and the rest to go away
unthankful ; but all of us,  prostrate at your
feet, present our most loyal and thankful hearts,
even to the last drop of blood to be poured out, and
the last breath to be breathed for your safety."
All then kneeled, and her Majesty replied : —
" Mr. Speaker,  I do assure you there is no
prince loveth his subjects better, or whose love can
countervail our love. There is no jewel, be it of
never so rich a price, which I set before this jewel,
— your love  Though God hath raised me
high, yet this I count the glory of my crown, —
that I have reigned with your loves  Therefore
I have cause to wish nothing more than to content
my subjects. This is a duty I owe ; nor do I desire
to live longer than I may see your prosperity 
Your intended helps — of subsidy — we take very
acceptably, because it manifesteth the largeness of
your love and loyalty. Of myself, I must say I
was never any greedy, scraping grasper ; nor a strait,
fast-holding prince ; nor yet a waster. My heart
was never set on worldly goods, but only for my
subjects' good. What you bestow, I hoard not ; but
receive to bestow on you again. Yea, mine own
properties I count yours, to be expended for your

Cu. XVHI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 635
good. Therefore, I beseech you, Mr. Speaker, ren
der unto my people such thanks as you imagine
my heart yieldeth, but my tongue cannot express.
— Mr. Speaker, I would wish you and the rest to
stand up, for I shall trouble you with longer speech."
When they had risen, — " You give me thanks. But
I doubt me that I have more cause to thank you
all, than you me. For had I not received a knowl
edge from you, I might have fallen into the lapse
of an error only for lack of true information. Since
I was a queen, never did I put my pen to any
grant but upon semblance made to me that it was
beneficial to my subjects in general, though a pri
vate profit to some of my ancient servants who had
deserved well at my hands. But the contrary being
found, I am exceedingly beholden to such subjects
as would move the same at first  That my
grants should be grievous to my people, and that
oppressions should be privileged under color of our
patents, our kingly dignity shall not suffer. Yea,
when I heard it, I could give no rest unto my
thoughts until I had reformed it  I assure
you, it is more for conscience' sake, than for any
glory or increase of love, that I desire these oppres
sions done by these varlets and lewd persons, not
worthy the name of subjects, should not escape with
out condign punishment  I have ever used to
set the last judgment-day before mine eyes, and so
to rule as I shall be judged to answer before a
higher Judge. To whose judgment-seat I do appeal,
that never thought was cherished in my heart that
tended not to my people's good. And if now my
kingly bounty hath been abused, and my grants,

G36 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Ch. XVHL
contrary to my will and meaning, turned to the hurt
of my people, I hope God will not lay their offences
to my charge  The glory of princely authority
hath not so dazzled the eyes of our understanding,
but that we well know and remember that we also
are to render an account of our actions before the
great Judge  Shall I ascribe anything to
myself and my sexly weakness ? Then were I not
worthy to live, and much less worthy of the great
mercies I have had from God, who hath ever given
me a heart which never yet feared enemy at home
or foreign. I speak it to give God the praise, as a
testimony before you, and not to attribute anything
to myself. For I, 0 Lord ! what am I that I have
not feared past practices and perils ! 0, what can
I do, that I should speak for any glory ! God for
bid ! " These last words she spake w*ith great em
phasis. " This, Mr. Speaker, I pray you deliver to the
House, to whom heartily commend me. And so
I commit you all to your best fortunes and further
counsels. And I pray you, Mr. Comptroller, Mr.
Secretary, and you of my Council, that before
these gentlemen depart into their countries, you
bring them to kiss my hand."1
At the same time, the queen was sore at heart
that so profane an approach had been made to
her royal prerogative in the progress of their de
bates. At the close of the Parliament, the Lord
Keeper by her commandment told the Speaker, —
" Touching your proceeding in the matter of her
prerogative, her Majesty is persuaded subjects never
1 Townshend, 261 - 2C6. D'Ewes, 658 - 660. Hansard, I. 939 - 942.

Ch. XVIIL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 637
did more dutifully, for she hath understood that you
did but incidentally touch it, and no otherwise but by
humble petition ; and therefore she willingly yieldeth
such thanks as a prince may give to her subjects,
though she now perceiveth that private respects are
privately masked under public pretence."1
" An Act for confirmation of grants to the Queen
and of letters patent made by her Highness to
others," was passed at this Parliament.2 But it
contained a special proviso, — "That this Act shall
not make good any letters patent, or any part in
them or any of them contained, of or concerning
licenses, powers, or privileges commonly called mo
nopolies." 3
To what extent these patents were actually re
voked, we are not able to determine. Certainly not
all.4 Some of them were cancelled outright. Some
probably stood the test of the law to which the
queen had referred them, while others failed under
the same test; and probably others were suffered
to stand without undergoing inquisition.5
Other matters of importance received the at
tention of the Commons. Bills were introduced
discovering a sad state of public morals, showing
the earnest desire of the House to correct them,
and eliciting spicy and interesting debates. One
was, to regulate ale-houses; another, against ex
cessive and common drunkenness ; another, to sup
press false weights and measures; and another,
against blasphemous swearing. From the debates
1 Townshend, 150. D'Ewes, 618. 4 Hallam, 154, note.
• 4S Eliz., Cap. I. 6 Carte, HI. 712.
• Ibid., See. VIII.

638 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Cn. XVHI
upon the last two bills, we find that false weights and
measures were notoriously and shamelessly used,
both in engrossing and in retailing,1 and that open
and dreadful profaneness existed to a scandalous ex
tent, tripping like household words from the lips
of children in the streets.2
Two bills were introduced concerning the Sab
bath day ; one for its better observance, the other
against wilful absence from church. During the
discussions of the latter bill, it was clearly shown
that the neglect of public worship was very gen
eral, and that there was really "no law for the
restraint of God's service " ; 3 for on this point the
Act of Uniformity had become " a law without- ex
ecution, a bell without a clapper."4 Both bills
failed ; the latter by a single vote.6
A dash was also made at the old, festering griev
ance of pluralities. The bill was largely debated,
but seems to have expired in the hands of a com
mittee.6 This session of Parliament is not only memora
ble for the show of quarrel between the preroga
tive of the Commons and the prerogative of the
crown, but also for a singular attempt to stifle
freedom of speech. Hitherto, all contests on this
ground had been between the lower House and
the crown. But now, strange to say, this funda
mental right was attacked in the House itself. We
'Townshend, 190, 273, 311. * Townshend, 224, 228.
D'Ewes, 622, 623, 627, 629. 6 Ibid., 321. D'Ewes, 683. Han-
* Townshend, 188, 268. D'Ewes, sard, I. 951.
661. Hansard, I. 943. ° Townshend, 209, 218 - 220
3 Townshend, 274, 275. D'Ewes, D'Ewes, 639 - 641.
663. Hansard, I. 945.

Ch. XVIIL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 639
waive the particulars of the affair, interesting as they
were. But it is gratifying to record that the at
tempt, originating with the courtiers, was indignant
ly and vociferously crushed by the House.1
The debates upon all these matters were ex
tended, animated, in some instances tart and satiri
cal. We pass them over thus lightly only because
the material which they furnish is too large for
our limits, and because they are less relevant to
our main purpose than that which has occupied
our attention. Nor do we wish to expend a word
of comment upon the remarkable and sturdy atti
tude which the House assumed towards the crown,
as the advocates and protectors of the people.
The facts which we have recorded disclose suffi
ciently the temper, courage, and power of Eliza
beth's last Parliament, and will readily be appre
ciated. It is sufficient to have discovered that a
prince, morbidly jealous of her prerogative and
proverbially imperious, though she preserved her
dignity, was made to yield before the majesty of
her Commons ; and that the Commons, without
derogating from it, signally prevailed against the
majesty of the prince.
The close of Elizabeth's days was sad. Though
conscious of decline, she seemed determined to defy
and to belie infirmity by a great " show of ability "
in walking,2 and even by dancing in presence of
her own and foreign courtiers. It was melancholy
to witness all this ; for the artifices by which she
1 Townshend, 275 - 278. D'Ewes, 663, 664. Hansard, I. 945 - 947.
¦ Lingard, VIII. 403, note.

640 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Ch. XVHI
sought to conceal, did but betray her infirmities.
The dullest eye perceived that her '¦' jollity " was
unreal, her step feeble, and her strength waning.
But the saddest feature of her last clays was the
gloom which settled upon her spirit. It soon took
on the type of a fixed and corroding despondency,
— "a horror of great darkness." In June, 1G02, she
acknowledged to the French ambassador that she
was weary of life ; 1 and soon after her removal to
Eichmond in January, 1602-3, she abandoned her
self to grief. " For fourteen clays she slept scarce
at all, and ate much less than usual."2 Uniformly
through her illness she refused all medicines, telling
her counoillors and physicians angrily, that, although
she wished to die, she was not in so great danger
as they imagined, and that she knew better than
they her own strength and constitution.3 Two
days and three nights she sat upon her stool,
dressed, could not be persuaded to go to bed, and
refused all nourishment except once, when per
suaded to drink some broth. Sometimes she would
¦ smite upon her breast and weep,4 and sometimes
sigh heavily and continuously, complaining that her
" heart was sad and heavy." 5
On the tenth day of March, she was thought at
one time to be dead ; but revived, and on the fol
lowing day began to amend. Her excessive sleep
lessness ceased for a while, and for more than a
week she lay in her bed.6 But again she became
' Birch, H. 505. * NugEe Antiquae, I. 320 - 323.
2 Ibid., 506. e Osborne, 109, note.
3 Ibid., 506, 507. Strype's An- ' Birch, II. 507. Strype's An
nals, VII. 521. Carte, III. 696. nab, VH. No. CLXV. ; AYilliam

Cn. XVIII] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 641
restless and wakeful ; sitting continually upon the
floor supported by cushions ; sometimes not uttering
a word for two or three hours, or even for twenty-
four ; holding her finger in her mouth with her
eyes glaring fixedly downwards ; giving vent to
her griefs by sighs and moans ; and daily growing
weaker and more emaciated.1 She listened with
satisfaction to those of her prelates who visited
her, to their words of spiritual comfort, and to
their exhortations. She also joined in their prayers
with every sign of fervent devotion.2 But her de
plorable state of mind and body continued until,
having named James of Scotland her successor,3
she expired peacefully and without a struggle, at
three o'clock in the morning of the 24th of March,
in the seventieth year of her age and the forty-
fifth of her reign.4
It is impossible to determine precisely how far
Camden to Sir Robert Cotton, as became her years, — strictly ma-
Wright, II. 494. ternal in its character, but doting
1 Birch, II. 507. Osborne, 109, and sadly unfortunate in its in-
note. Hume III. 241. fluence. He was executed in Feb-
Several causes of the queen's ruary, 1600-1, for attempting by
melancholy are specified by histori- force of arms to seize the person
ans. I rely only upon those to which of the queen and to make a revolu-
she herself alluded. First, her dis- tion in the government. (Camden,
covery that her nobility were neglect- 606. Birch, II. 464, 478.) There
ing her court, and " were already were circumstances — well known
offering incense to the King of to historical readers — attending
Scots.''' (Camden, 659, 660. Birch, his death which peculiarly aggra-
II. 505, 506, bis. Dodd's Church vated the sorrow of the queen.
History, III. 71,72 (London, 1840). 3 Strype's AVhitgift, 558.
Hume, III. 240.) This being in her a The most reliable and consistent
view filial estrangement, filial neg- account of this fact is to be found
lect, filial desertion, cut her to tho in Disraeli's " Curiosities of Litera-
hcart. Second, the death of Robert, ture," p. 353.
Earl of Essex, for whom she had an 4 Camden, 661. Birch, II. 507.
excossive affection, — though such
vol. in. 81

642 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Cn XVTH
Queen Elizabeth was implicated in the great wrongs
inflicted upon her Puritan subjects. While their
principles were by no means inconsistent with a
limited monarchy, they were antagonistic to the
despotism which she loved and to which she clung ;
for in church affairs and in affairs of state the
Puritan had " greatly advanced the interests of the
people, and had curiously scanned the prerogatives
of princes."1 Of this she became jealous soon after
her accession to the throne, and during the last
twenty years of her reign she had the clearest
evidence of it in the earnest and reiterated cry for
a more popular form of church government, in the
growing boldness of the House of Commons, and
in their increasing scrutiny of the prerogatives of
the crown. The prelates were constantly whisper
ing in her ear that the Puritans intended foul and
seditious proceedings, should other means prove un
availing, to establish their discipline ; the bill filed
in the Star-Chamber against Cartwright and his fel
lows was rank with the same charge ; and through
these different channels it gained her belief. Hence
it was that she was so resolute to "root out Puri
tanism " by unsparing suspensions, sequestrations,
and deprivations, so far as they might be inflicted
"by lawful ways and means," or "according to the
power limited by the laws, ordinances, and stat
utes of the realm." 2 Her own agency in this eradi
cating work we discover only in the instruments
by which she constituted, empowered, and instructed
her successive Courts of High Commission, and in
the emphatic charge which she gave to Whitgift
1 Hicks, 303. * Ante, Vol. H. p. 338.

Ch. XVHI] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 643
when she raised him to the primacy.1 To the
establishment of this court, the Puritans themselves
did not object, — although they did to its rigors
and unjust proceedings,2 — nor do we find them
taking exceptions to the very exceptionable lan
guage of the commission itself. Even Martin Mar-
prelate complained not of the High-Commission
Court, but of the Commissioners only. "Abuse not
the High Commission, as you do, against the best
subjects. The Commission itself was ordained for
very good purposes, but it is most horribly abused
by you, and turned clean contrary to the end where-
for it was ordained." 8
Both the ecclesiastical and the municipal courts
but little regarded the principles of justice, the
obvious rules of testimony, the rights of the citizen,
or even the meaning and intent of statutes. But
the illegal and oppressive proceedings of either
branch of her judiciary may not be charged upon
the queen, unless, indeed, it can be made to ap
pear that such proceedings were by her direction
or had her connivance. This, we think, cannot be
done. " She referred all ecclesiastical business wholly
to Whitgift's management," and all civil prosecu
tions wholly to her judges. But the doings of
these courts she did not and could not scrutinize,
and we have yet to learn that she ever knew how
frequently and flagrantly they violated their trust.
She failed, to be sure, and culpably, to provide
reasonable checks against the abuse of judicial
power ; but we find no evidence that she was privy
1 Ante, Vol. II. p. 348. " Ante, p. 278.
1 Ibid., p. 386.

G44 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1691. [Cn. XVHI.
to the wrong done to Edward Deering and others,
who were punished for opinions only ; 1 none that
Bhe authorized Whitgift's "Three Articles"; none
that she sanctioned the enforcement of any other
subscription than that required by statute ; none
that she justified the racking inquisition which her
Primate instituted under her allowance of " the
corporal oath." On the other hand, it was her
will that the servants of the crown, in each branch
of the judiciary, should do justly, love mercy, and
eschew all oppression of her people.2 That they
did otherwise was their own sin, not hers.
That Queen Elizabeth was ignorant of the illegal
and protracted imprisonment of the Puritans and
Barrowists without hearing or trial, that she was
ignorant of their cruel usage in prison, and of the
slight grounds upon which some of them were
condemned to the death of felons, we have suffi
cient evidence. Witness the facts, that Archbishop
Whitgift sought, through false informations and
suggestions, to incense her Majesty against them ;
that their humble supplications to her were inter
cepted and suppressed ; that her Master of Be
quests, Whitgift's creature, made it his custom to
withhold such papers from her ; and that, when
one accidentally came to her hand, it was graciously
' I have heretofore expressed modified. It is now my opinion
myself as though Elizabeth were that she was not privy to such
assenting to prosecutions for men's prosecutions, and that her great
opinions only, and had, therefore, fault was her oversight in vesting
violated her royal pledge to the her commissioners with powers but
contrary. Such opinions were vaguely limited.
formed, penned, and printed be- 2 AVitness her solemn charge,
fore meeting with documents by ante, Vol. I. p. 299.
which they have been materially

Cn. XVIIL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. 645
received.1 Witness the language of a Puritan clergy
man, when complaining of the outrages of Chief
Justice Anderson : " Well, we will not be discour
aged in our loyal affection to her Majesty, but will
comfort ourselves with our rude country proverb,
• Much water goes by the mill that the miller
never knows of.' Yea, we- are assured' that her Ma
jesty would not have her own religion discounte
nanced, nor her quiet and loving people disquieted
and grieved."2 Witness the words of Penry: "I
am assured, if her Majesty knew the equity and
uprightness of our cause, we should not receive
this hard measure which we now sustain. We and
our cause are never brought before her but in
the odious weeds of sedition, rebellion, schism, and
heresy ; and therefore it is no marvel to see the
edge of her sword turned against us. I am as
sured, that if her Majesty may understand the up
rightness of my cause in any sort, one hair of my
head shall not perish" Witness the words of Bar
row: "If her Majesty might be truly informed of the
things which have passed, she would freely and
fully pardon our execution." Witness the language
of the suffering church of Separatists: "0 that
her Grace and you did understand all our actions,
and did see the several declarations of our souls,
and loyalty long since proved. We should not
then be long in the hazard of utter spoil of our
bodies and minds, of evil air and diet, of the poor
remnant of our goods and of our families' destruc
tion. We are persuaded that the execution of
Barrow and Greenwood was rather importuned and
1 Ante, p. 501. ' Strype's Annals, VTI. 372.

646 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1601. [Cn. XVHL
hastened by others, than easily consented unto by
her Grace."1 And finally, witness the lament of
Elizabeth herself, when coolly told by her stern
Primate that some of her subjects who had swung
from the gibbet were the servants of God : " Alas !
shall we put the servants of God to death?"
1 Waddington's Penry, 258, note, 268 ; Memorial of the Church to tho
Lord Mayor.

CHAPTEE XIX.
PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION.
False Statements respecting the Principles axd Behavior op the
Puritans. — Their Doings iu Parliament. — Tiieib Progress toward
Civil Liberty.
To specify in detail the false statements which
have obtained in history respecting the principles,
purposes, and behavior of the Elizabethan Puritans,
and to show the utter groundlessness of those state
ments, would be a protracted, but not difficult task.
We give them only a passing notice, but sufficient
for our purpose.
During this reign the Puritans were publicly
charged with holding "that the people might law
fully resist the prince by force of arms if he hinder
the building of the Church, i. e. their Presbyteries." x
And even to the present generation it has been
reiterated, not only that they held this doctrine, but
that they did also plot and endeavor to carry it into
practice. We have already produced evidence which,
we think, will have convinced the reader to the con
trary. Yet we will add the following solemn declara
tion, made in the year 1592, by the imprisoned
Puritan ministers in a letter to her Majesty. " In
all simplicity and purity of heart we declare, in the
presence of Almighty God, to whom all secrets are
1 Hicks, 297.

648 PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION. [Cn. XIX
known,  that, for procuring reformation of any
thing that we desire to be redressed in the state of
our Church, we judge it most unlawful and damna
ble by the word of God to rebel, and by force of arms
or any violent means to seek redress thereof; and,
moreover, that we never intended to use or procure
any other for the furtherance of such reformation
than only prayer to Almighty God, and most humble
suit to your excellent Majesty, and others in au
thority, with such like dutiful and peaceful means as
might give information of this our suit, and ofthe
reasons moving us thereunto." x An asseveration so
explicit and so solemn is sufficient evidence, we
think, of their innocence in the premises.
It has been constantly asserted, that, had the Pu
ritans but behaved themselves peaceably, they would
have suffered no molestation. On this point also we
refer to the many proofs of the contrary which we
have already presented ; to the many instances in
which peaceable non-conformists, and even conform
ists themselves holding Puritan opinions, were mo
lested, prosecuted, suspended, and deprived. Par
ticularly would we refer to the declaration made by
the doctors of the University of Cambridge, that
" divers of the friends and lovers of the Gospel,
though carrying themselves in dutiful and peaceable
sort, had tasted in some measure of more hard se
verity than many known Papists." 2 With still more
emphasis do we cite the fact, that Archbishop Whit
gift himself confessed that he put men to the oath
ex officio, and to his interrogations that he might un
derstand ivhether they were peaceable, as they pre-
1 Neal, II. 446. 2 Ante, p. 400.

Ch. XIX. PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION. 649
tended, or not.1 Nor was this all of his testimony in
the case ; for when a Puritan declared to him, in
1593, " I conduct myself peaceably," his Grace re
plied : " That is not enough. It is not sufficient that you
do not preach against the bishops : you do not preach for
them." 2
Another grave accusation has been perpetuated
against the Puritans. " The chiefest pillars of these
platforms " — the Presbyterian — " stiffly maintain
that, if princes do hinder them that seek for this disci
pline, they are tyrants both to the Church and minis
ters ; and being tyrants, they may be deposed by their
subjects."8 "This was the Consistorian doctrine,
that in this very case subjects might withstand their
prince ; that the ministers, after due admonition,
might excommunicate him as an enemy against the
kingdom of Christ ; that, being so excommunicated,
the people might punish him ; and that thereby he
ceased to be their king."4 In reply to these state
ments, it is sufficient to quote from the prominent
Puritan clergymen of the day, who doubtless knew
their own sentiments better than did the writers
whose words we have given. " We profess that ex
communication depriveth a man only of spiritual
comforts, without taking away either liberty, goods,
lands, government, private or public whatsoever, or
any other civil or earthly commodity of this life.
Wherefore from our hearts we detest and abhor the
intolerable presumption of the Bishop of Eome, tak
ing upon him in such cases to depose sovereign
1 Ante, Vol. II. p. 424. * Whitgift or some of his chap-
" Brook, II. 116. lains; Strype's Whitgift, 264.
" Dr. Bancroft, in Hicks, 297.
VOL. III. 82

650 PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION. [Cn. XIX.
princes from their highest seats of supreme govern
ment, and discharging their subjects from that duti
ful obedience that by the law of God they ought
to perform." :
The doings of the Puritans in Parliament require a
more extended notice, — more extended indeed than
our limits allow. Their repeated contests with the
Lords in defence of their own Parliamentary rights ;
their wariness in the framing of statutes, by which
they baffled the covert purposes of the prelacy and
of the temporal lords;2 their uniform exercise of
freedom of debate, even ignoring in the Commons'
house the strait and even the special inhibitions of
the queen ; their persistent though cautious conflict
with the arbitrary pretensions of the Crown, — a
conflict so sturdy and ominous as twice to extort
concessions, — all these things command our exami-
1 Neal, II. 447. Ante, p. 436. or a magistrate, and is so to be held
The Independents held like opin- and obeyed of all faithful Christians
ions. " The prince himself entereth who are his subjects.'' (AA'adding-
into the Church, and is bound to ton's MS.)
the strait observation and obedience On page 163 of this volume I
of God's laws in his calling, as well have signified my purpose to ex-
as any other ; and is for any trans- amine at large the whole subject
gression thereof liable and subject of the Puritan theory of the rela-
to the censures and judgments of tion of the prince to the Church.
Christ in his Church, which are But I now find that a full exhibition
without partiality or respect of per- of the subject would occupy too
sons. Which censures and judg- much space. I must therefore pass
ments, if the prince contemn them, it over thus slightly.
he contemneth against his own soul, - For example, their careful
and is therefore by the same power qualification of 13 Eliz. Cap. XII.,
of Christ to be disfranchised out of by limiting subscription to the Arti-
the Church. Though by this sin cles of Faith. Ante, Vol. I. p. 398.
he loseth his right to be a Christian See also Vol. II. p. 194 ; Vol. IH.
or a member of his Church, yet pp. 561, 562.
ioseth he not his right to be a king

Ch. XIX.] PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION. 651
nation. On the other hand, some of their legislation
has a sinister aspect; and the superficial reader of
their Parliamentary history will be apt to charge
them with gross intolerance, fanaticism, and even
barbarity ; for the terrible laws against the Catholics
had the hearty assent of the Puritans in Parliament
and out of Parliament.
The statesmen and legislators of the day — to
say nothing of the common people — understood
clearly the genius of Popery, the purposes of its
devotees against the Protestant government of Eng
land, and the covert measures by which they in
tended to effect those purposes. Elizabeth's minis
ters, and in due time her Parliament, knew that so
soon as the crown was placed upon her head, and
her Church Establishment determined, — so soon as
it was apparent that the virgin prince would own
no fealty to Eome, — so soon plots were formed for
her assassination, and foreign leagues were formed
to rifle her crown x and to subvert her government.2
All these projects not only had a Catholic origin,
but were religiously identified with the paramount
interests of the Catholic faith. With the full knowl
edge of these facts, and with the single object of
preventing treasonable practices, the Parliament of
1571 passed a law which, according to its letter, ex
posed even such Catholics as might be innocent of
disloyal act or intent to terrible punishment. We
do not justify the letter of this law. Still, is there
not some palliation for its extreme severities in the
peculiar perils to which the realm was exposed?3
1 Ante, Vol. I. p. 277, note, 337. 3 Ibid., p. 397.
* Ibid.,pp.342-349,360 and note.

652 PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION. [On. XIX.
Let the reader examine with' care the succeeding
acts of Parliament against the Catholics, in which
the Puritans were implicated ; let him consider the
growing strength and malice of England's Catholic
enemies abroad, their persistent efforts to excite an
armed rebellion at home, the many attempts to
assassinate the queen,1 and the avowed object of the
Spanish Armada; let him remember that all these
attempts against the throne and person of Elizabeth
had a Catholic origin, and were for the propagation
and triumph of the Catholic faith ; and then let him
ask whether there were or. were not such reasons
to fear Catholic treason at home and in any form;
as in some degree at least to justify precautionary
measures in the shape of penal statutes, and to con
stitute some apology for the extreme severity of
those statutes. But the best testimony which we
can produce in justification of these statutes is that
of Eomish priests themselves, given publicly in the
year 1598. "From the beginning of her reign," they
wrote, " the queen had dealt favorably and mercifully
with the Papists,  till the year 1580, when the
Jesuits first crept into England, when their wicked
designs and their practices against the State 
enforced the making of rigid and severe laws against
the Catholics,  and she was necessitated to use
severity against this kind of men, unless she would
betray both her own and her kingdom's safety and
security." 2 It should also be borne in mind, that

1 The last attempt was in 1594, Wright, II. 435, note. Hume, III
and was instigated by the Spanish 195.)
monarch. (Murdin, 669-674. Stow, * Camden, G51, 652. The law of
766, 768. Lodge, II. 224 and note. 1571 was evidently constructed in

Cn. XIX.] PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION. 653
the terrible laws under consideration were intended,
in many important respects, only to overawe the
English Catholics, and to deter them from treason
able associations and treasonable practices. Had the
intention been otherwise, the laws would have been
carried into effect, and thousands and thousands of
English subjects would have been slaughtered upon
the scaffold or imprisoned under a praemunire, who
yet were suffered to live, and we believe to live at
large. The queen and her government knew that
most of her Catholic subjects were loyal, and were
ready to lay down their lives in her defence against
any foreign power, whether secular or spiritual.
Thus the operation of the laws which we notice was
to a large extent suspended. We find no record
that any suffered the penalty of a praemunire for
"bringing, delivering, causing to be delivered, and
receiving with intent to wear and use, any Agnus
Dei, crosses, pictures, beads, or such like, consecrated
by the Pope or his authority." 1 We find, indeed, one
case of a woman who had harbored a Catholic priest,
and suffered the horrible torture, unto death, of the
peine forte et dure ; but this was not because, con
trary to the Act of 1571, she had harbored the priest,2
but because she refused to plead either guilty or not
guilty.3 So far as the penalty of death was concerned, it
was the rule of the government to carry these laws
into effect only in cases of veritable treason. In
some instances, perhaps many, as in the cases of
anticipation of Jesuitical plots, of ' Ibid. For which the penalty
which the government were well would have been that of a pramu-
informed. nire-
1 Ante, Vol. I. p. 396. * Lingard, VIII., Note P.

654 PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION. [Cc. XIX
Mayne and Tregian, persons innocent of treason
able intent or act suffered. But such were cases in
which treason and complicity with treason were
supposed to have been proved. The queen complained
that she was often compelled to resort to the ex
treme penalty of the law, " unless she would suffer
the ruin of herself and her subjects, upon some men's
pretence of conscience and the Catholic religion.
Yea, for the greater part of those silly priests, she
did not at all believe them to be guilty of plotting
the destruction of their country ; but the Superiors
were they she held to be the instruments of this
villany, for these inferior emissaries committed the
full and free disposure of themselves to their Su
periors."1 Consequently, instead of demanding the
blood of the " silly priests " in due course of law, she
transported scores and scores of them ; some of whom
had been condemned, others of whom were in dan
ger of the law.2 More than this : many of the Cath
olic clergy she suffered to remain within the realm,
and, we think, without persecution to the day of
her death.
The fine of twelve pounds per lunar month for
recusancy was in very many cases nominal ; for the
queen substituted for it various sums, from forty
pounds to six pounds per year, according to individ
ual ability.3 That money was extorted and property
rifled from peaceable and loyal Catholics by strolling
ruffians in disguise of the queen's officers, was not
the fault of her laws ; nor was it the fault of her
administration, for whenever they could be discovered
1 Camden, 271. * Strype's Annals, VT., Appen
2 Ibid., 295, 652. dix, Book H. No. XHL

Cn. XTX.] PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION. 655
they were as surely punished for these their crimes
as the highwaymen on Shooter's Hill.1
These facts, we think, justify us in saying that
it was never supposed by those who enacted these
laws, that they would be carried into general and
literal execution. If this opinion be correct, then
the inhumanity of the Puritans in this part of their
legislation is more apparent than real.
The act of 1592-3, " to retain the queen's subjects
in their due obedience," 2 has been denounced as
" one of the severest acts of oppression and cruelty
that ever was passed by the representatives of a
Protestant nation and a free people."3 This is a
grave charge against every Puritan who gave assent
to the bill upon its passage in the Commons.
We have already had occasion to state that, while
the Puritans sought most earnestly and persistently
for the reformation of the Church, and particularly
insisted that the godless and profane should not be
embraced within its pale and brought to its holy
sacraments, they still clung most religiously to the
old idea of ecclesiastical unity. Hence it was, that,
corrupt and unscripturally organized as they con
sidered the national Church, they still held that it
contained within itself a true Church of Christ, and
therefore they abhorred separation from its worship
and communion as a sinful schism. Inasmuch as
Church and State were made identical " by the blow
ing of her Majesty's trumpet at her coronation," they
held that Parliament might rightfully enact laws for
1 Strype's Annals, Vn. p. 397. * Neal, I. 197.
' Ante, p. 563.

656 PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION. [Ch. XIX
ecclesiastical government and for the punishment of
ecclesiastical offenders. Eadically wrong as their
theory was, they acted consistently with it and con
scientiously. We should therefore consider their
passing of this bill for checking and punishing sepa
ration, not as an act of heartless " oppression and
cruelty," but as a natural result of their mistaken
view of Christian duty.
But we go further. We justify the Puritans in
the passing of this bill. The spiritual lords, as we
have stated, were desirous to rid themselves and
the secular judges of the odium which attached to
the forced construction of the Act 23 Elizabeth.
To accomplish this, by substituting a new law which
should expose the Puritans to most cruel punish
ment, they had instigated and carried in the Lords
a special bill. This bill had been sent down to the
Commons. This bill the Puritans virtually rejected,
by so modifying it that it applied only to the
Separatists, subjecting them to banishment, but
lea vino- their lives in their own hands. This was
a compromise. It spoiled the trap which the bish
ops had set for the Presbyterian Puritans,1 but it
provided penalties for the more obnoxious Inde
pendents. The prelates were fain to accept it.2 It
barred all further proceedings against either party
upon that construction of 23 Elizabeth which made
writing or speaking against the bishops the same as
" seditious matter " against the queen.3 But for this
special and specific statement future prosecutions
of Presbyterians and of Separatists would have been
1 Ante, p. 563. 3 Ibid., p. 426.
' Ibid., pp. 516, note, 560, 561.

Ch. XIX.] PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION. 657
based upon the Act 23 Elizabeth as it had been
strangely interpreted by the courts. Thus by the
passage of this new bill the Puritans in Parliament
only shielded their Presbyterian brethren, and pro
vided a milder punishment for the Separatists. They
substituted banishment for a felon's death. They
softened the liabilities of their brethren of the Sep
aration as far as they could. In what, then, consisted
their " oppression and cruelty " ?
To a cursory reader it may seem strange and
bootless that the Puritans should have persisted in
introducing and passing bills in the Commons for
ecclesiastical reform, when they were well assured
that such bills must fail for lack of the royal assent.
The question naturally arises, — What did they ac
complish ? We answer, " Much." They were ac
customing themselves to scrutinize and adjudge
religious and civil abuses. They were educating
themselves in the mysteries of civil government.
They were training themselves to a better and bet
ter acquaintance with the principles of civil liberty.
They were discovering the true line of demarcation
between the rights of the throne and the rights of
the people. In short, by all their Parliamentary
struggles and debates they were advancing in po
litical knowledge, and were preparing themselves
and the people, slowly but surely, for grand results
erelong to be developed. These results had their
origin in the dispute about linen and woollen, —
the cap and the surplice. Persecution had reminded
the inferior clergy that there was a Magna Charta.
They fell back upon it, and planted themselves upon
VOL. III. S3

fT58 PRINCIPLES AND LEGISLATION. [Ch. XIX.
their rights as Englishmen. Their pleas for religious
rights were caught up, reiterated, discussed and
urged on the floor of Parliament ; and then, by nat
ural consequence, there followed the study, discus
sion, and assertion of civil rights, — the cry against
roj'al oppression and the plea for the rights of the
people, — beginning with the loud remonstrance
against purveyance, and culminating in the remark
able and triumphant struggle against monopolies.
We do not claim for the Elizabethan Puritans that
they had well-defined and correct ideas of civil
liberty. For example, the dispensing power of the
sovereign — utterly in mockery of all legislation
and practically a canker at the root of civil liberty
— seems still to have been generally admitted, al
though by some in Elizabeth's last Parliament we
think it was roundly questioned.1 Still the Puritans
had progressed in an important degree toward that
freedom which is now the glory of their fatherland.
Not only had they persistently and " curiously scanned
the prerogatives of princes, and greatly advanced
the interests of The People,"2 but, against the will
and the power of hierarchy and prince, they had
advanced principles and assumed positions in Con
sistory and Parliament which erelong produced
momentous results. Free Worship. Free Thinking,
Free Speech, a Free Press, and Free Trade, — such
were the aim, and such were destined to be the
fruits, of their labor.
1 Ante, pp. 615-618, G24, C25. referred to Hume's History, Vol.
For the origin and nature of the IV. p. 424, Chap. LXX.
dispensing power, the reader is "¦ Bancroft, in Hicks, p. 303.

INDEX.

Abjuring tho realm, iii. 564.
Absolution in tho English Church, ii.
263, note; iii. 57G, note 2.
Acts, of Uniformity, i. 143; of Suprem
acy, 141 j of " Thirty-two," 378 nnd
note ; 13 Eliz., Cap. 1, whereby cer
tain offences were made treason, 395 ;
13 Eliz , Cap. 2, against bringing in
bulls, &c. from the See of Rome, 306,
396; 13 Eliz., Cap. 12, to reform dis
orders touching tho ministers of the
Church, 398, strained to enforce sub
scription, 407, 457; 1 and 2 Philip and
Mary, against seditious words and ru
mors, ii. 147, 189, 194, note 7; 23 Eliz.
Cap. 1, to retain tho queen's subjects
in their due obedience, 184-188, 191 —
195; Cap. 2, against seditious words
and rumors uttered against the queen,
188-196; 25 Henry VIII. Cap. 19,384,
896. " Act " at Oxford, 269, note; 27
Eliz., for the surety of her Majesty's
person, 515, 518, 519; 27 Eliz., against
Jesuits and Seminary priests, 616.
Acts for general pardon, iii. 173, 174,
note; 35 Eliz., for reducing disloyal
subjects to due obedience, 560 - 565 ;
85 Eliz., against Popish recusants, 565
-607.
Advertisements, Book of, i. 226; queen
nnd Council refuse to ratify, 228.
Advowson, right of, ii. 272, note.
Admonition, " to Parliament," i. 414-418,
437 487; a "second admonition," 448;
proclamation against, 451 ; " to the no
bility nnd peoplo of England and Ire
land," iii- 192, note, 193, noto.
" Agnus Dei," i. 800, note.
Alusco, John, i. 48 and noto.

Altars removed under Edward VI., i. 68.
Anabaptists, definition of, ii. 13, note;
German, 14, note; burned, 16.
Anderson, Lord Chief Justice, his inde
cent and illegal proceedings in eccle
siastical cases, iii. 579.
Anjou, Duke of, proposed as Elizabeth's
husband, ii. 133, 134; negotiations for
their marriage, 135, 140, 157 ; his court
ship, 134, 140, 157. .
Apocrypha, i. 427, note 4; Puritan ob
jections to, ii. 357 ; reading of, directed
contrary to statute, 454, 483.
Apparel, priestly, disliked by Elizabeth's
first bishops, clergy, and some of her
courtiers, i. 179 and note, 193, 205,
206 nnd note; objections to, 40-46,
179, note, 220, note, 812, 313, 318; re
fused, 219 ; disliked by Elizabeth's
ecclesiastical commissioners, 220; Pu
ritan argument against, 221-223,818;
orders respecting, 226, 227, note; not
objected to by Puritans, if not Popish,
220, 221, 259, 826; not trifles, 40-45,
220, note, 312, 313, 318, 320-323 and
note, 474; so considered by Elizabeth,
647 - 549. See " Vestments."
Apparitors, ii 248.
Archbishopric of Canterbury under
Elizabeth, offored to David White
head and refused, i. 175, 178, note: to
Nicholas Wotton, and rofused, 178,
note.
Arden, Edward, executed for plotting
against the queen's life, ii. 498.
Armada, the Spanish, iii. 168-208.
Articles, Statute of tho Six, i. 19-21.
Articles of Religion, reduced to thirty-
nine, adopted by convocation, ratified
by Parliament, and how, 206, note,

6C0

INDEX.

398 ; subscribed by Popish priests
218; Whitgift's three articles, ii. 349;
contrary to statute, 454 and note.
Assemblies, religious and private, forbid
den by proclamation, i. 214, 486.
Association, tl ! Leicester, ii. 511-514;
sanctioned by Parliament, 515.
Aylmer, John, his " Harbor for Faithful
• Subjects," i. 31 ; his tirade against
women, 254; his attack upon bishops,
ii. 232; confirmed Bishop of London,
91; cures the queen's toothache, 97;
his severity, 161, 162, blamed by Lord
Burleigh, 233,235, but continued, 237,
25C, 251; his letter to the queen, 249;
his letter to the Lord Mayor, 252; en
tertains an Irish priest, 256 - 263 ; his
persecution of Barnaby Benison, 438,
note ; his severities, iii. 31 ; apology
for his unelericnl behavior, 284 and
notes; his blasphemous pun, 291, note
2; his servility, 356, 357; his agency
in the conviction of Barrow aud Green
wood, 644; his death, 676.

B.
Babington, Anthony, iii. 90-101, 109,
119.
Ballard, John, iii. 79, 88, 92, 100, 109,
119.
Bancroft, Dr. Richard, his sermon at
Paul's Cross, iii. 330-334.
Baptism, sign of the cross in, i. 193,
note; insures salvation, ii. 359, 360,
367.
Barnes, Robert, i. 173, note.
Barrow, Henry, his dissolute life and
reformation, iii. 445-449; a leader of
the Independents, 454 ; his arrest and
examination, 456-463; charged with
opinions, 463; liberation and his sec
ond arrest, 466 - 470 ; led forth for
execution, but reprieved, 504, 505 ;
indicted for his writings in prison,
606, 507; exhorted to recant, 509; his
speech on the gallows, 511; reprieved,
612 ; executed, 613 ; his execution,
why delayed, and why effected, 514,
615 ; executed for his opinions, 517, 618.
Bartholomew's Fair, i. 154; evening fes
tival of, 161, 162; massacre of Prot
estants in France on Bartholomew's
day, 458.
Beal, Robert, his r» narks upon the

Book of Common Prayer, ii. 380, note;
his opinion of the ecclesiastical com
missions, 390, 392 ; his controversy
with Whitgift, 411-417; accused be
fore the Privy Council, iii. 21 ; in the
House of Commons, attacks the bish
ops, 555.
Bell, Robert, his protest in Parliament
against monopolies, i. 386 ; roughly
handled by l'rivy Council, 387; chosen
Speaker of the Commons, 423; his de
cease, ii. 167.
Benison, Barnaby, his persecution by
Aylmer, ii. 439, noto.
Beza, Theodore, deprecates separation
from the English Church, i. 367.
Bible, English, i. 19, 24, 173, note 1 ;
remarkable misinterpretations of, 428,
note ; no standard of church disci
pline, 449.
Bishops, how appointed, i. 31, note 3,
148 ; new, under Elizabeth, 198, 201 ;
suffragans, 199, note; their authority
questioned, 410, noto ; lordship of,
Archbishop Parker's argument for,
472, 473, 477; upbraided for not en
forcing uniformity, 488; in tho primi
tive Church unlike those in the English
Church, 517; their illegal proceedings,
227, 407, 527, 533, 540; ii. 476; their
representations of the Puritans, 346,
347; claim infallibility for the Book
of Common Prayer and for the Book
of Ordination, 369; their conferences
with Puritans, 356-369; their scur
rility, iii. 32, 34, 35, 235, 301 ; exposed
to a praemunire, 275, 276, noto ; di
vine right of, it. 242, note; iii. 333-
347 ; some loathed persecution of Pu
ritans, 363; an offence against them
an offence against the queen, 426; in
troduce a bill making Puritans felons,
515, 516 and note; oppose the sanctifi
cation of the Sabbath, 696.
Blagrave, William, a Popish priest, dis
covered and hung, i. 339, 340.
" Bloody Statute," i. 21.
Blount, Christopher, iii. 81, 221, 224 ;
marries the Countess of Leicester, 225.
Bonfires, meaning of, i. 162, note.
Bonham and Crane (Separatists), ii. 298,
note, 341, note.
Bonner, Bishop of London, exults over
Elizabeth's church establishment, i.
184, 185 ; his death and burial, 356, 357.

INDEX.

661

Book of Advertisements. See " Adver
tisements."
Book of Common Prayer, i. 23, 25,
63, 64; compiled from Popish books,
315, 320; Elizabeth's not established
by the Church, 205, note; subscribed
by Popish priests, 218; acceptable to
Papists, 321, 840; assent to, required
as wholly according to the Word of
God, 495, but refused, 520, 621; dif
ferences of different editions, ii. 356,
3S0, note, 454, note, 483; Elizabeth's
first, contrary to statute, 454 and note;
infallibility claimed for it, 369, 379; a
new one offered in the Commons to be
established, 462, but rejected, 463.
Book of Ordination, ii. 349, note; infalli
bility claimed for it by the bishops,
869, 379.
Books, Popish, against Queen Elizabeth
and her government, i. 389.
Borgarrucci, Julio, his plea with Leices
ter against Archbishop Grindal, ii. 43
-60; engages to poison tho Earl of
Essex and the Lady Douglass, 61; his
character, 52, note.
Boucher, Joan, i. 37, note.
Bound, Dr. Nicholas, his book on the
Sabbath and its influence, iii. 591-
593, 696.
Bowing at the namo of Jesus, objection
to, i. 179, note.
Boys, Edward, his house violated, iii.
477-481.
Braync, Edward, prosecuted by Whit
gift, ii. 418, 426; mistaken for Robert
Brown, 290, noto.
Bread, sacramental, wafer form of, i. 621 ;
ii. 164 and noto.
Briant, a priest, his execution, ii. 219.
Bridges, John, iii. 273, 276, 279 and note.
Brown, Robert, ii. 284 - 302.
Brownists, their opinions and character,
ii. 802-816.
Bucer, Martin, i. 48.
Bull, Papal, against heretics, i. 838; of
excommunication against Elizabeth,
263; how regarded by English Catho
lics, 364, 366; how, by the queen, 865.
Bullinger, Henry, i, 48; his letter about
the priestly garments, 804; his view
of tho Sabbath, iii. 585, 686, note 4.
Burleigh, Lord William, desirous of the
execution of the Qucon of Scots, i. 427,
429 and note ; his address to com

missioners for enforcing uniformity,
489,490, 492; his sympathy with the
Puritans, 492 ; objects to severities to
sustain ceremonies, i i. 233 - 235 ; blamed
for not staying Whitgift's proceedings,
417; denounces Whitgift's articles of
inquisition, 421, 422, 426, 437; inter
feres in behalf of Robert Brown, 287,
296 and note 6, 297, note 2, 299; re
jects tho doctrine of tho divine right
of bishops, iii. 346 ; intercedes for Cart
wright and others, 376, 377; befriends
Robert Cawdrey, 404, 405; indignant
at the decision of the judges against
Cawdrey, 414; his anger at the inhu
man treatment of Barrow and Green
wood, 614; his sickness, death, and
character, 697 - 605.
Bury Sti Edmond's, ii. 281.

Calvin, John, his letter to the church at
Frankfort, i. 89, 90; attempts ecclesias
tical union of all Protestants, 831, note;
his use of the oath ex officio, ii. 398,
note; his view of tho Sabbath, iii. 686.
Campian, Edward, his journey to Lon
don, ii. 197 ; his histoiy and character,
198, note; his arrest, 205; his trial,
209-212; his execution, 212-215; his
treasonable purpose, 227, noto.
Canon law, i. 310, note; ordered to bo
revised and purged, 878 and note, ii.
384; in use only by permission, ib.
Canons for enforcing uniformity, i. 406,
406.
Carew, Thomas, iii. 33-36.
Carter, William, executed for high trea
son, ii. 499, 600.
Cartwright, Thomas, attacks the consti
tution of the Church, i. 410; expelled
from Cambridge, 412; goes abroad,
413; returns, 448; his "second admo
nition to Parliament," 449; his con
troversy with Whitgift, 448-451; con
ceals himself, 461 ; order for his arrest,
452; retires abroad, 463; opposed sep
aration, ii. 342, note; his " Confutation
of the Rhenish Tostamont," iii. 360,
369-361, 673; his return, 351; his
plea for justice, 353, note 2; arrest,
liberation, and conference with Whit
gift, 356-358; master of Warwick
Hospital, 368; charged with disturb-

662

INDEX.

ing the peace of the Church, 359; re
vises the " Book of Discipline," 361;
charges against him, 373; imprisoned,
374; disavows Martin Marprelate, 374;
before the High Commissioners, re
fuses the oath ex officio, 375; slander
against him, 375, note; offers to clear
himself by oath from specific charges,
376; illegality of his imprisonment,
377 ; before the Star-Chamber, 380,
381, 390; his prosecution fails, 393,
399; his treatment by the High Com
missioners, 382-390; his sufferings in
prison, 382, 394, 570; his conference
with Barrow and Greenwood, 509, note
6; his release from prison, 571, 572;
ais death and character, 349, 350, 352,
573.
Catholics, approve the English liturgy,
i. 321, 340; beginning of their sepa
ration, 340; leniency towards them,
341, 345, 369, 457; their general de
fection from the English communion,
366; punished for mass-worship, 869;
licensed to keep priests, .369; their
controversy about Protestant worship,
866, note; means lo entrap them, ii.
501; give sentence against the Queen
of Scots, iii. 126, note, 138; their loy
alty, i 361, iii 214-216.
Cawdrey, Robert, sequestered from his
benefice, iii. 404, 405; brings an ac
tion to recover, 406; arguments on
the case, 406-408; the ruling of the
court considered, 409-413.
Cecil, Sir William, Secretary of State
under Edward VI. and Elizabeth, i.
121 ; her confidential adviser, 243 and
note. See " Burleigh."
Ceremonies ofthe Church, objections to,
i. 32, note; disliked by Elizabeth's first
bishops, 179, note, 193, clergy, 205,
205. courtiers, 206, ecclesiastical com
missioners, 220, and common people,
206 ; proposition in convocation to dis
pense with, lost by one vote, 206, note ;
acceptable to Papists, 321.
Chadderton, Dr. William, advises against
marriage, denounces women, i. 252-
254 ; is married, 255.
Chantries, i. 23, note.
Church, Protestant, under Queen Mary,
i. 127; Puritan theory of, 449, note;
ecclesiastical unity of, revered by the
Puritans, ii. 265 ; establishment of, de

sired by tho Puritans, i. 456; Church
of England, her historic character,
642-544; identical with the State,
324, note, 330, 331, 476; refusing to
come to church, penalties for, 144,
329 and note; national Church, how
constituted, iii. 364, note. Sco "Es
tablishment."
Churches, Protestant, of foreigners li
England, i. 48, 49, note, 62, 334, note;
Churches, purging of, 155, 156.
Civilians overcome by Puritans, iii. 58a.
Clergy, their scarcity at the beginning
of Elizabeth's reign, i. 202, 209, 210;
the bad character and deficiencies of
some of the inferior, 368, 400, 439, 476 ;
ii. 72, 171, 173, 174, 355, 434, 435, 458,
459; iii. 155 and note, 276; preaching
clergy, scarcity of, ii. 163, 171, 172 ;
iii. 155. 321 ; Puritan, their sufferings
under ecclesiastical censures, i. 404,
496 and note, 497 ; equality of clergy,
469.
Coaches, when introduced into England,
i. 159, 160, note.
Colleges, abroad, for English Catholics,
i. 346-349.
" Commencement " at Cambridge, ii.
269, note.
Commissioners, special, to enforce uni
formity, i. 488; their severe proceed
ings, 494-497. See "Court of High
Commission."
Common Prayer, Book of, i. 23; why
constructed, 25 ; revised, 63, 64 ; how
framed under Queen Elizabeth, and
by whom, 177 and note; a compro
mise with the Catholics, 177, 179; com
piled from Popish manuals, 315,320;
Elizabeth's, not established by the
Church, 205, note; subscribed by Pop
ish priests, 218 ; acceptable to Papists,
321, 340; form of Common Prayer, de
signed by Puritans, 449, note ; assent to
the established form of, as ulwUy ac
cording to the Word of God, required,
495, but refused, 520, 521 ; tho book in
use not authorized by law, ii. 454 and
note.
Commons, House of, petition Elizabeth
to many, i. 136 ; their remarkable free
dom of speech, 283; again urge her *
to marriage, and to provide for the
succession of the Crown, 290; their
indignation at her inhibition of free

INDEX.

6G3

speech, 291 ; they still persist, 292
and note ; the discussion dropped, and
why, 298; forbidden to originate mat
ters of state, 375; pass bills for ref
ormation of religion, 393-395; peti
tion the queen for laws to reform the
Church, 401; rebuked by her, 402;
propose bills "for rites and ceremo
nies," and for relief of Puritan clergy,
435; contend for their liberties with
tho Lords, ii. 18, 19; petition for ref
ormation in the Church, 20 ; frame a
bill for it, 174, 1'75 ; imposed upon by
a false report of their committee, 176
-180; reject a bill for a new Book
of Common Prayer, 463; resent the
answers of the Lords to their petitions
for chureh reform, 475; devise vari
ous bills relating to ecclesiastical mat-
tors, 476-479; persist in face of a
special inhibition from the queen,
477; maintain their own prerogatives,
494; their custom of proceeding, in
grave matters, by requesting the Lords
to join them in petition, 464 and note,
492, 493; their petitions for church re
form specified, 467-470; the answers
to them, 470-473; the answers re
sented, 476 ; excluded from the Cham
ber of the Lords in Elizabeth's last
Parliament, and why, iii. 607, 610; their
discourtesy to the queen, 609; their
prerogative defended, 627, note; their
address of thanks to the queen for her
promise to check monopolies, 633.
Communion service, substituted for the
Mass, i. 24.
Confession and absolution in the Eng
lish Church, ii. 263, noto; iii. 506, note 2.
Conforming Puritans, i. 219-221; iii.
364; reasons for their conforming, i.
221, note, 332, 333; their quarrel with
the Separatists, 332, 333; punished,
Chap. XVIII. nnd p. 527; iii. 27-31,
67, 605.
Conformity, precise, not required by Ed-
wnrd VI., i. 78, 84, 315 nnd note; stand
ard of, changed by Whitgift, ii. 879.
Conscience, tho queen declares that she
will not make inquisition of, i. 261j
478; freedom of, asserted, 889, 890;
inquisition of, made, 479, 480, 605-
612; iii. 463, 404.
Conspiracies against the life and throne
of Elizabeth, i. 277 and note, 300 and

note, 342, 343 and note, 337; ii. 603,
608-610, 620-539; iii. 98, note, 141
-145, 178-182.
Conventicles forbidden by proclamation,
i. 214, 486 ; first instance of, under Eliz
abeth, 304-306 and note; Popish, 340.
Cooper, Dr. Thomas, his sermon in de
fence of the Church, i. 438; his "Ad
monition to the People of England,"
iii. 282.
Copping, John, ii. 282; tried and exe
cuted, 316-318.
Council, Privy, form of charge to, i.
122, note; object to punishing slight
non-conformity, ii. 377, note, 435; dis
like the proceedings of Whitgift, 409;
rebuke the toleration of vicious cler
gy, 434, 435; rebuke Aylmer for his
wrong to Barnaby Benison, 439, note ;
why they did not check the High
Commissioners, 444-446; opposed to
the proceedings of the ecclesiastical
courts, 409; iii. 22.
Court of High Commission, i. 142;
their punitive powers, 15a, 329, note;
remonstrances against their proceed
ings by the Council, 685, 538 ; and by
Bis-hop Parkhurst, 637; ii. 72; their
mode of examination, 240-244, 401-
404; their proceedings disliked by the
Privy Council, 409, 434, 435, 439: iii.
22; and by others, ii. 440; why not
checked by the Council, 444-446;
their sufferance of vicious clergy, 434,
435: public charges against, 448; es
tablished for good purposes, iii. 278;
but abused, 316,817; proceeded only
by the civil and canon law, i. 384;
amenable to the temporal courts, 385,
393, note, 898; might arraign by cita
tion only, 896; popular indignation
against, iii. 398-400, 414; by decision
of secular judges, released from abid
ing by statute law, 408, 409, 413; their
lawless proceedings, 481, 486, 563; had
no legal right to arrest, ii. 396, iii. 461,
note 2 ; responsible for prison horrors,
498-602; abate their persecutions,
and why, 678, 679, 580, 583; their
judicial assumptions attacked, 582;
and suppressed, 583.
Court of the star-Chamber, i. 203, note.
Courts of Common Pleas reverse judg
ments o( ecclesiastical courts, ii. 393,
note, 398.

664

INDEX.

Coverdale, Myles, i. 170-172 and note;
refuses his former bishopric and other
livings, 208; refuses the bishopric of
Landaff, 212, 215; presented to the
living of St. Magnus, 217; exempted
from ''first-fruits," 218; deprived, 238;
continues to preach, 240; his death
and funeral. 355 aud note; his opin
ion ofthe Sabbath, iii. 584.
Cox, Dr. Richard, i. 9; interferes with
the church at Frankfort, 93-109;
Elizabeth's threat to him, 152; dislikes
the ceremonies and vestments under
Elizabeth, 179, note; prejudices her
against his Frankfort adversaries, 189,
190; his opinion of the rights of the
clergy and of the religious province of
the prince, ii. 61 ; his opinion of the
prophesyings, 65, note 3.
Cranmer, i. 37-39; did not sign the
death-warrant of Joan Boucher, ib. note;
his views of the Sabbath, iii. 684.
Creeds, iii. 475, note.
Criminal trials, iii. 437, 438, 443, 444.
Cross, sign of, in baptism, i. 193, note.
D.
Dee, Dr. John, ii. 93, note 3.
Deering, Edward, his letter to Sir Wil
liam Cecil, i. 500-503; a conforming
and peaceable Puritan, 502, 504, 505,
621; his address to the queen in 1569,
how misrepresented, 503 and note;
how esteemed at Cambridge and Lon
don, 504; persecuted for opinions,
505-512; his eloquent defence, 512-
623; no more allowed to preach, 523;
his death, ib.
" Demonstration of Discipline," iii. 256,
416, 418.
Deprivations, i. 404, 405, 457.
Devil, the, his martyrs, i. 74; author of
non-conformity, ii. 164; his amatory
capacities asserted by the prelates,
357, 353.
Divine right of bishops, ii. 242, note;
iii. 333-347; the doctrine rejected by
the bishops themselves, 345.
Dispensing power of the crown, iii. 615,
617,622, 624; denied, or doubted, in
the Commons, 625; admitted as an
historical fact, 627.
Domiciliary visits, i. 351-353; iii. 477,
479, uote, 480, note.

Douglass Howard, Lady, her piivate
interview with Leicester, i. 265 - 272;
her legal marriago to him, 273, noto.;
is poisoned by li is direction, ib.; mar
ries Sir Edward Stafford, ib.
Dudley, Robert, i. 157-159, 162-167;
his interview with Coverdale and
Whitehead, 182-197; his birth and
marriage to Amy Robsart, 245 nnd
note; made Master of Horse, Knight
of the Garter, Baron of Denbigh, nnd
Earl of Leicester, 248 and note. See
•' Leicester, Earl of."E.
Ecclesiastical unity, i. 331; iii. 153.
Edward VI., his person, i. 2; character
and attainments, S, 9, 59; his journal,
3, 4, note; accession to the throne, 22;
death, 60, 61, 05; precise conformity
not required by, 78, 84 315 and note.
Election of pastor, right of, claimed, i,
76, 80; thought essential by the Puri
tans, 416, 449, note, 522, note.
Elizabeth, princess, her birth, i. 245,
note; her answer to Queen Mary's
message, 117, 118.
Elizabeth, Queen, her speech upon tho
announcement of Mary's death, i. 119,
120 ; her first Privy Council, 121 ; her
fomi of charge to her Councillors, 122,
note; her person and deportment, 122
-124; refuses to hear mass, 125, 126;
suspends all preaching, 126 ; deter
mines the religion of the realm in
private, 177, 191, 318-320; her policy
therein, 186, 187; her first Parliament
opened, 128-130; her title to the
crown, 134, 135; requested by the
Commons to marry, 136 ; answer, 137 -
140; retains Popish emblems in her
chapel, 183; her prejudices against
John Knox, 189, note ; and Genevans,
192; her resolution against further
change in religious matters, 193, 259;
refuses to sanction the " Book of
Advertisements," 228; policy at the
Council Board, 229, note; dalliance with
the Earl of Leicester, 248-251 (note);
emotion upon hearing of the birth of
James of Scotland, 275; conspiracies
against her life, 277 and note (see " Con
spiracies"); cautions against her be
ing poisoned, 278 and note; addressed

INDEX.

665

by the Commons upon the succession
of tho crown, 279; and by the Duke
of Norfolk, 282; her professed intent
of marriage, 285; her anger about
motion for the succession, 286, 287
and note; her answer to the Lords
upon tho same subject, 288 ; hor mar
riage urged by a deputation, and her
answer, 289; forbids tho Commons to
discuss the succession, 290 ; again for
bids it, 292; revokes her inhibitions,
293; desirableness of her marriage,
297-301; her speech at tho close of
Parliament of 1566, 294, 295; her
probable opinion of the right of Mary
of Scotland to tho succession, 295,
296; her charge to her judges, 299;
her compulsory system in religious
matters and its influence, 325-329;
tho Pope incites to hor assassination,
837; conspiracy of Catholic powers
against her, 342, 343 and note; her
excommunication by the Pope, 363;
hor contempt of it, 365; resumes tho
crucifix in her chapel, 369; her pro
gress to the Parliament house, 370 -
873; her new mandate for uniformity,
408; conspiracy of tho Pope and Philip
of Spain for her murder. 421 ; disap
proves trying tho Queen of Scots for
high treason, 425, 433 and noto; for
bids bills in tho Commons touching
religion, 435; hor mysterious sickness
and scandal against her, 460 - 465, noto ;
pledges herself not to molest con
sciences, 261, 478; her pledge vio
lated, 470-481; her proclamation for
enforcing uniformity, 4S5.486; Samp
son's opinion of hor piety, 491, note;
dislikes Puritans moro than Papists,
625; considered the vestments of tho
clergy and tho ceremonies no trifles,
647 - 649 ; commands Archbishop Grin
dal to curtail tho number of preachers
and to stop prophosyings, ii. 53, 54;
proposals for her marriage, 131 -134;
her susceptibility to flattery, 139, note ;
her reception of tho Duko of Anjou,
141 ; forbids preaching against his pro
posals of marriage, 142; her proclama
tion against tho book of John Stubbcs,
145; refuses to sign tho contract of
marriage, 15S; hor parting with tho
Duke, 158 and note; her probable
object in encouraging him, 159; her
VOL. III. 84

indifference to the spiritual wants of
her people, 180, 181 ; her quarrel with
Grindal, 344, 345; her charge to Arch
bishop Whitgift, 348; her dislike of
preaching, 460; her message to the
Commons not to deal in church mat
ters, 477; her second message, 481,
482, received too late, 482 ; her speech
at the close of Parliament, 486; con
spiracies against her life, iii. 98, noto,
141-145, 178-182; her reluctance to
execute the Queen of Scots, 127, 131 -
136, 148-151; her reply to tho "pe
tition in behalf of a new model " of
tho Church, 170; her treatment ofthe
Queon of Scots considered, 174; her
apprehensions on her account, 175,
170; in camp at Tilbury, 210-212;
rejects counsels of severity against
her Catholic subjects, 214; gives pub
lic thanks for the deliverance of her
people, 220; craves liconso from her
subordinate to cat moat, 419. note;
forbids tho execution of John Udal,
428; ignorant of the sufferings of her
subjects in prison, 600; and of tho
principles and behavior of tho Puri
tans, 532, 543; her lamont for the
deaths of Barrow and Greenwood,
641, 542; testimony of the Indepen
dents to hor clemency, 543: her speech
in tho Parliament of 1592-3, 668;
commissions the discharge of all pris
oners for ccclcsinstical causes, 572,
576; hor disregard of tho Sabbath,
680,587; rejects a bill for its better
observance, 591; discourteously treat
ed by her Commons, 609; her bodily
infirmity at the opening of Parlia
ment, 610; alarmed at tho temper of
tho Commons, 028, 030; hor messago
of apology and promiso concerning
monopolies, 028-030; her reply to
tho Commons touching monopolies,
034; tho closo of her life, 039-041;
the causes of her melancholy, 041,
noto ; how far implicated in tho
wrongs done to tho Puritans, 642 - 646.
Erasmus's paraphrase of tlie Gospels,
i. 24.
Essex, Walter, Earl of, his sickness and
death, ii. 114-130. Robert, Earl of,
a patron of tho Puritans, iii. 437;
mediates for John Udal, 437, 438;
beheaded for sedition, 641, note.

6C6

INDEX.

Establishment of tlie Church of Eng
land, its character, i. 176; how dc-
tei mined and by whom, 177 and
note, 318-320; argument for, 467-
473; comprehended tho nation, 476.
Evidence against tlie Crown not admis
sible in court, iii. 422.
Exchequer, abuses in, iii. 314, 315 and
note.
Exiles arrive at Frankfort, i. 57; pro
vided with a place of worship, 72;
their order of religious service, 72, 73;
elect their ministers, 76; their dissen
sions, 79-113; Calvin's letter to them,
86, 90; tho original Church disperse,
112.
Ex officio oath, iii. 156, 170. Soe " Oath
ex officio." F.
Fever, jail, iii. 487-490.
Field, John, i. 414-418; imprisoned,
441; his conference with the Arch
bishop's chaplain, 441-444; his an
swer to Whitgift, 449, note; threatened
with banishment, 481; again cited be
fore the Commissioners, ii. 161.
" First-fruits," i. 217, note.
Fletcher, Dr. Richard, Bishop of Lon
don, iii. 570.
Forcible establishment of their discipline
falsely charged upon the Puritans, iii.
381, 391, 392. 395, 396.
Form of prayer thought necessary by
Puritans, i. 522, note.
Fox, John, his " Book of Martyrs," i.
62, 229, notes 2 and 4; his dislike of
tho vestments, 229; refuses to sub
scribe the " Book of Advertisements,"
ib. ; intercedes for Anabaptists, ii. 15.
" Fox's Ordinary," iii. 455, 474.
" Frankfort, Troubles at," i. 65, noto.
See " Exiles."
Freedom of speech, remarkable, in tho
House of Commons, i. 283; attempt
in the House of Commons to check it,
iii. 638.
Freke. Edmund, Bishop of Norwich, ii.
286, 287, 293, 294. G.
Gifford, William, iii. 76, 84, 94; Gilbert,
76, 64, 85,105, 1C6.
" Gospellers," i. 158, note.

Government of tho Church belongs to
its spiritual officers, i. 195, 217; the
Bible no rulo of, 449; but tradition,
475.
Greenham, Richard, his treatise on tho
Sabbath, iii. 591.
Greenwood, John, iii. 456, 459, 464, 466,
467, 475, 476 and note, 504-613; his
execution, why delayed and why ef
fected, 514, 615; executed for his
opinions, 517, 618.
Grindal, Edmund, i. 82 ; onco n Papist,
315: made Bishop of London, 201; his
portrait, 209; his objections to the
vestments overruled, 212, 213; his dis
like to them and to the ceremonies, 82,
220, 315; his view of tho authority ot
the prince in religion, 312, 313; ii. 69
60; a conforming Puritan, i. 220, 316,
ii. 335, 339, noto 6 ; his apology for con
formity, i. 213, 221, note; averse to se
verity agahistnon-conformists,233, 239,
333; his charity far those who scru
pled the garments and ceremonies, 316 ;
his dislike of separation, ib. ; thought
it worthy of punishment, 333 ; effects
the liberation of separatists, 317; made
Archbishop of York, 808; refuses to
press canons for uniformity, 406; ad
vises banishment of Anabaptists, ii.
15, 342 ; made Archbishop of Canter
bury, 17 ; commanded to suppress tho
prophesyings, 54; refuses, 54-60 ; sus
pended, 66 ; in danger of being de
graded, 67; his constancy, 68, note;
becomes blind, 68; his opinions, suf
ferings, death, and character, 326, 331,
335-345; slandered by Lingard, 343,
note; in the High Court of Commission
proceeded by jury, 393, note.
" Grue," meaning of, iii. 285, noto 4.
Gualter, i. 48.
Guillotine, in England, iii. 269-271.
H.
Hampton Court, i. 1, 28-30.
Hanse towns, i. 56.
"Harbor for Faithful Subjects,'' Jola
Aylmcr's, i. 31.
Hatton, Sir Christopher, lis passion for
Elizabeth, i. 404. note; :is death, iii,
546.
Henry VHI., his revolt from the Papal
See, i. 16-18.

INDEX.

667

Hall, Christ's1 descent into, iii. 34, note.
Holidays, objections to, i. 179, noto.
Homilies, why constructed, i. 25, 210.
Hooker, Richard, iii 39-71.
Hooper,!. 6 - 13, 27; his commission as
bishop, 29, note; refuses consecration,
32 and note 1 ; before the Council, 33 -
46; controversy upon his case, 48-51;
imprisoned, 51; consecrated, 52, 63;
his labors and character, 54, 55.
Howard, Charles, Lord High Admiral, a
Catholic, i i. 215, note 2; assents to the
conviction of the Queen of Scots, iii.
126, note, 188; his history, 198, note.
Hume, David, his misrepresentations, i.
427 nnd note, 525; ii. 169, note, 464,
note, 489, noto, 494, noto ; iii. 315,
note, 318, note, 327, note, 557, note 2,
032, note.
Humphrey, Lawrence, refuses to con
form, i. 228; placed in custody, 234.
Hutton, Matthew, his argument for the
Establishment, i. 467-472; recom
mends conference with tho Puritans,
487.

" I " written for " aye," iii. 290 and note.
" Imp," monning of, ii. 144, note.
Independents, their plntform, ii. 302-
305; objections to tho Establishment,
807 -311; their dislike of Presbyterian-
ism, 312-315; discard state patron
age, iii. 163; in prison, 403; unjustly
called " Brownists," 449, note ; thoir
view of the national Church, 450 ; their
affinities with tho Presbyterians, 451;
differences of the two upon ecclesias
tical relations to tho State, 452 ; lay
preaching among them, 451 and note,
529 ; without organization, 453 ; did
not object to judiciary oaths in gen
eral, 465 ; their incroaso, 472 ; thoir
places of mooting, 473; their organi
zation as a church, 474-477; many
npprohonded at Islington, 482; die in
prison, 488, 496, 407; how many im
prisoned, 483; causes of their impris
onment, 484 ; their prison sufferings,
484 and noto 5, 485-497, 499; their
complaint against illegal imprison
ment, 485, 486; thoir testimony to tho
clemency of the quoon, 543; had no
dosigns against bishops, 632, 533; their
Uei-oism, 076; thoir cxilo,677 aud note 3.

" Inns of Court," iii. 44, note:
Inquisition in England, i. 406, 468, 469,
479, 505, 506, 525; ii. 379, 401-407;
Whitgift's articles of, denounced by
Burleigh, 421, 422; inquisition ofthe
good, and none of the wicked, rebuked
by tho Council, 434, 435.
Insurrections, under Edward VI., i. 4,
26; northern, under Elizabeth, 359-
361.
Invasion of England planned, i. 420 - 422.

Jail fever, iii. 487-490.
James VI. of Scotland, his birth, i. 275;
its immediato influence in England,
276 ; intercedes for Thomas Cart
wright, iii. 399 ; his proclamation
against John Penry, 522.
Jermin, Sir Robert, his counsel to-Rob-
crt Brown, ii. 289 ; intercedes for
Brownists, but retracts, 316.
Jesuits, their mission to England, ii. 183;
their vow, 210, note; tho true charac
ter of their mission, 221-231; their
doctrine of tho Pope's right to depose
kings, 227, noto.
Johnson, Francis, iii. 475, 476, note, 482;
banished, 576.
Johnson, Robert, suspended and impris
oned for refusing subscription not re
quired by law, i. 527 ; his letter to
Bishop Sandys, 627, 628 ; charges
against him, 628; his trial, 629-533;
his sufferings and death in prison,
635, 636.

Killing, in resisting tho officers of the
High Commission, no murder, iii. 482,
noto.
Kitchin, Anthony, Bishop of Landaff, i.
201, note, 212, noto.
Knightley, Sir Richard, iii. 245, 246, 260,
263, 264, 296.
Knollys, Sir Francis, his relation to the
queen, i. 180, note; tho author's mis-
tako on this point, iii. 344, noto; an
opposer of bishops, i. 197, 380, note;
interview with Coverdale and White
head, 182-197; withstands "The
Book of Advertisements," 228; pro
tects tho ecclesiastical supremacy of
tho crown, 379 ; his remonstrance

668

INDEX.

against tho deprivation of Grindal, ii.
67 ; pleads for the restoration of sus
pended ministers, 410 ; opposes the
divine right of bishops, iii. 839, 340;
the queen's regard for him, 344, 345;
his letter to Burleigh in behalf of
CarUvright and others, 399 ; against
abuses practised by the prelates, 554,
655; his death, 345, note.
Knox, John, his course under Edward
VI., i. 77. 78 ; takes charge of the
church at Frankfort, 7S; ejected, 102;
accused before the magistrates, 105;
his departure advised, 110 ; goes to
Geneva, 110; his case compared with
that of Hooper, 113, 114; his "Blast
against the Government of Women,"
188, U9,note; his letter to Sir William
Cecil, 189, 190, note; refused a passage
through England, 189, note ; Eliza
beth's hatred of him, ib,
L.
Lambeth Conference, iii. 45, noto.
Lambrun, Marguerite, her attempt to
assassinate Queen Elizabeth, iii. 178-
182.
Laws of the realm paramount to laws
civil or canonical, ii. 384 and note, 396.
Lay preaching allowed by tho Indepen
dents, iii. 451 and note, 528, 529.
Leicester, Robert, Earl of, withstands
" The Book of Advertisements," i.
228 ; the queen's favorite, 242 ; his in
fluence at court, 243 ; opposed by
tho Earl of Radcliffc, 243 ; his wooing
of the queen encouraged by her, 247,
248 ; their marriage expected, 248,
note; her attachment to him, 249,
note ; Dr. Chadderton advises him
against marriage, 252 ; Sir Robert
Naunton's opinion of him, 257, note ;
his interview with Pilkington and
Whitehead, 257 - 264 ; his altercation
with the Lady Douglass Howard, 266 -
273 and note; his relation to eccle
siastical parties, 197 ; plots against
Grindal, ii. 43-50 ; suspected of poi
soning Throckmorton, 48, note ; his
policy concerning the queen's mar
riage, 135 and noto 2 ; entertains her
at Kenilworth, 130 and note ; his as
pirations to marriage with the queen,
137 and note ; marries tho Countess of

Essex, 138 ; opposes tho bishops, 267
patronizes Puritans, 20S ; his persecu
tion of Grindal, 328 ; advises poison
ing the Queen of Scots, iii. 125 ; hi,
death, 220-225 ; his " religious phrase,"
227-230.
"Leicester's Commonwealth," iii. 77, 78,
note.
Lent, the English reason for, ii. 73 - 75.
Lever, Thomas, refuses tho habits, but
preaches, i. 240 ; his letter to Cecil
and Knollys about tho death of Amy,
Lady Dudley, 247, note.
Liberty, religious, the idea of, broached, i.
280 ; the princo has no right to infringo
upon, 223, 310: claimed by tho Puri
tans, 323, 324 ; the idea of civil, initiat
ed, 281. and claimed by tho Puritans,
ii. 380, 381.
Lingard, Dr. John, denies that the Pope
instigated the assassination of Queen
Elizabeth, i. 338, note; his misrepre
sentation of John Stubbes, ii. 144,
note ; his slander of Grindal, 343 and
note.
" Little-Ease," iii. 493 - 496.
Lord's Supper, theories about it, i. 19,
20, and note.
Lutherans, their abhorrence of Calvin
ists, i. 74. M.
Magic, ii. 92-95.
" Magna Chartn," iii. 377, 531, 532, 633;
violated by the bishops, 655.
Maid of Kent. i. 37, note.
" Majesty," title of, i. 5 note
Martin, Gregory, his " Treatise of
Schism," ii. 499.
Martin Marprelato, synopsis ofhis tracts,
iii. 273-292; disliked by the Puritans,
264, 261, 294, 303 - 307, 374 ; character
of his tracts, 292, 299, 300 ; their pop
ularity, 294; proclamation against,
294 ; his press seized, 295 ; never iden
tified, 298, 308, 309.
Martyr, Peter, i. 48.
Martyrs, the Devil's, i. 74.
Martyrs under Queen Mary, i. 117.
Mary, Queen of England, her melan
choly condition, i 116 ; her message
to the Princess Elizabeth, 117; death,
118 ; funeral sermon, 124.
Mary, Queen of Scots, her early history,
i. 357; imprisoned in England, 368;

INDEX.

669

assents to n plot for the invasion of
England, 420 ; proceedings against her
in Parliament, 424, 434 ; her letters
intercepted, iii. 86, 87 and note; the
character of her correspondence, 97,
98 and note, 99 ; her trial by Commis
sioners, 126 and noto ; action of Par
liament in her case, 128 - 133, 137 -
140 ; execution, 149.
Maskell, on the mysterious efficacy of
the sacraments, iii. 237, note 1 ; charges
Daniel Neal' with lying, 279, note 4;
his slander ofthe people of " America,"
293, note.
Mass, Romish, explanation of, i. 20, note;
tolerated by Elizabeth, 369.
Massacre of Protestants in France, i. 458.
Mayne, Cuthbert, ii. 77 - 60.
Meiancthon, i. 75, noto.
Mendoza, tho Spanish ambassador, plots
against Elizabeth, ii. 603; expelled
from England, 604; his complicity
with Babington's conspiracy, iii. 82,
88, 89.
Ministers, right of electing, i. 76, 80; ii.
279.
Monopolies, protested against in Parlia
ment, i. 386; history of, iii. 611 and
note; bill against, 614; debates upon
614-627; their number and effects,
616-620, 631; bill to abolish them,
622; motion to cancel them and to
punish tho patentees, 624; popular
excitement against, 631; tho Commons
thank the queen for her promise to
check, 633; tho Lord Keeper's speech
upon the subject at close of Parlia
ment, 636.
" Month," legal meaning of, ii. 186,
note.
" Month's mind," definition of, iii. 283,
note.
Morgan, Thomas, iii. SO, 86.
Morrice, James, counsel for Robert Caw
drey, iii. 405 ; his treatise against the
proceedings ofthe Ecclesiastical Com
missioners, 558; repeats his sentiments
in tho House of Commons, ib. ; com
mitted to custi dy, 557; not arrested in
the House of Commons, 657, note 2 ;
his letter to Burleigh, 557, noto 3; lib
erated, 658 and noto 2.
Muneor, i. 482, noto.
Murder of princes, when meritorious,
iii 70.

N.
Nares, Dr. Edward, his interpolation of
the queen's letter against prophesy-
ings, and his false charge against
Daniel Neal, ii. 64, note.
Nash, Thomas, iii. 300, note.
Naunton, Sir Robert, his opinion of the
Earl of Leicester, i. 257, note.
Nicholas Lane Church, organization of,
iii. 474-477.
Non-conformists, their deviations, i. 219
and note; connived at by tho bishops,
220; before Commissioners, 227, 231;
refuse to conform, 233; suspended and
deprived, 237, 238; their conscientious
ness, 203 ; a reason for severity against
them, 333, 334 ; greatly increase, 368,
370,, 484 ; harassed and punished, 368 ;
proclamation against, 486, 4f6; com
missioners to execute the proclama
tion, 488 ; their persecution nbated,
ii 162, 103, 208; their devorcdness to
the Gospel ministry, 103, 104.
Non-conformity attributed to tho Devil,
ii. 104.
Non-residence, iii. 318-323.
Norfolk, Duke of, i. 281, 282, 420, 423,
' 429. O.
Oath ex officio mevo, ii. 390-892, 393,
note, 397 - 399, 401 ; inquisition under,
401 - 404 ; contrary to Mngna Charta,
405-407; used by Calvin, 398, note;
Whitgift's reasons for proceeding by
it, 428, 429 ; offensivo to all classes,
442, 443 ; why not interdicted by the
Council, 444-446 ; object of, iii. 156 ;
motion in Parliament against, 170 ;
history of, 386 - 388 ; commitment for
refusing, 262. 871, 377; refusing it, a,
confession of guilt, 262, 263 ; contrary
to law, 263, 375, 395.
Oath of Supremacy, i. 142, note; the
queen's exposition of, 149, 195; re
fused by a few Catholics, 201, 218;
accepted by the Protestant clergy, 196,
205; ii. 851 ; mode of administering it
to the Commons, 451.
Oath of English students in foreign
Romish colleges, i. 347.
Oaths, judiciary, not objected to by Pu
ritans, iii. 376,388, 390, 392, 465.
Onslow, Speaker of tho Commons, omits

670

INDEX.

the usual petitions for freedom of
speech and freedom from arrests, i. 283.
Ordination, by other forms than of the
English Church, admitted by Parlia
ment, i. 399, and by the queen, 400 ;
Presbyterian, recognized, ii. S7-113;
iii. 47, 64, 65 ; not conferred by the
Presbyterian Puritans, ii. 278 ; " Book
of," 349, note; infallibility claimed
for it, 369, 379; difference of views
about it. iii. 58 - 62 ; repetition of, ob
jections tJ, 47. P.
Paget, Eusebius, ii. 266 ; iii. 26 - 31.
Pardon, acts for general, iii. 173, 174,
note.
Parker, Matthew, his inauguration as
Archbishop, i. 198-201; chafes that
" the Book of Advertisements " is not
sanctioned, 228,231 ; complains of Bish
op Grindal, 239; his argument for- the
lordship of bishops, 472, 473, 477 ; his
apprehensions for the Establishment,
477, 481, 482, 463 ; discouraged in the
work of discipline, 536, 537: his vin
dication of himself, 539, 540 ; his char
acter and death, 540, 541 and note;
attributes non-conformity to the prac
tice of the Devil, ii. 164.
Parkhurst, Bishop of Norwich, a con
forming Puritan, i. 333 ; his remon
strance against severity, 537.
Parliament of 1597-8, iii. 611, note, 618.
Parry, W*illiam, conspires for the mur
der of Elizabeth, ii. 520-539.
" Parson," definition of, ii. 267, note.
Paul's Cross, i. 169.
Peaceable Puritans persecuted, iii. 30,
67, 370, 372.
Peasants, war of the, in Germany, i.
482, note.
Penry, John, imprisoned, arraigned and
liberated, iii. 233 - 238 ; his marriage,
243; his previous history, 243-245;
the chief manager of a Puritan press,
252, 258 ; remonstrates against the
Martin Mar-prelate tracts, 264; his
study sacked, 264 ; appeals to Parlia
ment for " the rights and immunities
of the people," 266, 267; order for his
arrest, 267, 26S; retires to Scotland,
268; not the author or approver of
Martin Mar-prelate, 304, 305. 538; his
arrest and previous l.istory in Scot

land, 518 - 523 ; his private notes of
an address to tho queen, 624 and
note. 625 and note; his letters in pris
on, 626. 527. 540; his examination,
527-633; not ordained, 528; no Ana
baptist, 529; his " Declaration," 634;
his execution, 536; his opinions un
changed to his death, 539 - 541.
Persons, Robert, arrives in London, ii.
197; his history and character, 198,
note; announces the object of his
mission, 199, 200; his escape to France,
207; good results from his pen, iii.
194, 195, note.
Phelipps, his letter to Sterrell, iii. 510,
note.
Philip of Spain, details of his plan for
the invasion of England, iii. 190-195.
Pilkington, Bishop of Durham, a con
forming Puritan, i. 219, 220,333; re
monstrates against enforcing the hab
its, 256-263; his death, ii. 99.
Plague in London, i. 207 and note.
Plumbers' Hall convicts, ii. 298.
Pluralities and non-residence, i. 400, 523,
note; ii. 457; bill against them, 498,
note 6; iii. 318-323.
Polan, Valeran, i. 62, 67.
Poley, Robert, serves Walsingham and
the Queen of Scots, iii. 81-83, 106.
Policy, State, i. 358 and note.
Pope, the, puts the crown of England
into market, i. 337; moves for the
assassination of Elizabeth, ib.; his
bull against heretics generally, 338;
secret agent of, in England, 344; ex
communicates Elizabeth, 363.
" Practice of the Prelates," ii. 448, note.
Praemunire, statute of, i. 15 and note;
condition of those convicted under,
362 and note; on instance of, ii. 76-
90.
Preaching, the ordinary means of sal
vation, i. 210; iii. 236 and note, 237,
note 1; scarcity of, i. 239, 462, 463,
498; ii. 163, 171, 172, 457-459; iii.
233, note; disliked by the queen, ii.
54; lay preaching, iii. 451 and note.
"Precisians," the name why applied to
High-Churchmen, iii. 301, note 6.
Prerogative of the crown, i. 310; its ex
tent, 400; iii. 615; challenged by the
Commons, 624, 626; threats against,
618, 627; how valued by Elizabeth,
613, note.

INDEX.

671

•Presbyterian Puritans, their discipline
framed, ii. 264-279; their Book of
Discipline, 273 ; their plan, 274-276 ;
their subscription, 276 ; their purposes,
274-278; their respect for the laws,
276-279 ) did not confer ordination,
278 ; desired an established Church,
312 ; abhorred Separation, 312, 313 j
subscription to their Book of Discipline,
iii. 362, 891 i had no Church organ
ization under it, 364, 365 ; their dis
cipline not practised, 366, 391 ; nature
and doings of their assemblies, 365 -
868, 391 ; their view of episcopal ordi
nation, 46, 307 and note ; did not or-
"ain, 368 ; their views of election to
the office of pastor, 48 - 50, 367 and
note ; charges against them, denied on
oath, 891, 392.
Presbytery organized at Wandsworth, i.
438; ii. 264; others organized, i. 484;
ordination by, recognized, ii. 97 - 113.
Presence of Christ in the sacramental
supper, i. 20. note.
Press, restraints upon the, i. 303, 304,
iii. 23 ; strugglo for its freedom, 246 -
265 ; Mar-prelate's, seized, 295.
" Priest," the name implies a sacrifice,
i. 520.
Priests, Popish, their general character,
i. 203, 404, 405 ; take the oath of su
premacy, subscribe to the Book of
Common Prayer and the Articles of
Religion, and retain their livings and
cures, 218, 308, 309, 376,404, 405, note,
475 ; foreign, come to England in dis
guise, 370 ; dispensed with, to preach
heresy, 330, 337, and to take false
oaths, 337, 838 ; they enter upon their
mission, 339 ; one hung, 339, 340 ; an
other mutilated aud imprisoned, 845,
346; seminary priests, their operations
in England, ii. 181-1S4, 187, 191.
. Prince, his relation to the Church, as
understood by Elizabeth's first bish
ops, ii. 59 - 62 ; Puritan idea of it, i. 223,
310, 491, 023, note; Grindal's idea of
it, 812 ; ii. 69, 60 ; opinion of Theodoric
of Italy, i. 644, uote ; murder of princes
right, iii. 76 ; their obligations to their
subjects, 631, 622.
Printing, restrictions upon, i. 303, 304 ;
how used by the Puritans, 262, 803.
Prisons, i. 444 - 446, 497 ; ii. 89 ; iii. 484
and note 6, 485 - 497 ; cleared of ec

clesiastical offenders, 575 ; again filled,
676.
Private judgment, the right of, asserted,
i. 394.
" Prophesyings," ii. 49, 50 ; the queen
orders their suppression, 64 ; sup
pressed by proclamation, 63, 64 ; re
vived, 65, 66, note.
Protestant Church under Queen Mary,
i. 127 ; iii. 452, note 3.
Protestant worship at the accession of
Queen Elizabeth, i. 127, 128.
Provisors, statute of, i. 14.
Public worship, penalties for absence
from, i. 144, 329 and note.
Puckering, Sir John, elected Speaker of
the Commons, ii. 453 ; his address to
the queen in 1585 at the close of the
Parliament, 485 ; made Lord Keeper,
iii. 456 ; his speech at the opening ot
Parliament, 547 - 549 and note 2 ; his
reply to the Speaker of the Commons,
650.
" Puritan," the name first used, i. 233 ;
an opprobrious name, ii. 333, 376, note.
Puritans, their efforts for toleration, i.
802 ; their public justification of their
opinions, 262, 303 ; sentiments con
cerning the vestments of the clergy,
812, 313, 318 ; their justification, 320
-823 and note; claim religious liber
ty, 328, 824 ; willing to wear distinc
tive apparel, 220, 221, 259, 326 ; slan
derously represented, 345, note ; suf
ferings under deprivation, 404 ; desire
an established Church, 456 ; ii. 312 ;
imprisoned and deprived, i. 457 ; ar
raigned for their opinions, 479, 480 ;
their increase, 484 ; dealt with illegal
ly, 407, 496 ; deprived, suspended, and
forbidden to preach, 496 and note ;
imprisoned, 497 ; their idea of the re
lation of the prince to the Church,
491 ; abhorred separation, 523 ; ii. 313,
376, note; peaceable Puritans perse
cuted, i. Chap. XVIII. ; iii. 30, 67, 370,
872 ; their views of form of prayer, i.
622, note ; their deaths in prison, 637 ;
their regard for the established Church,
ii. 265 ; did not confer ordination, 278 ;
their private assemblies not for divine
worship, 266 ; their respect for the
laws, 276-279; their prevalence in
Suffolk County, 282 - 293 ; abatement
of their persecution, 208, 347 ; accept-

672

INDEX.

ed the oath of supremacy, 349, 351,
355 ; their persecution renewed, 364,
370- 3S2; their objections to Whit
gift's articles, 355 ; their conferences
with the bishops, 356-369 ; punished
though cleaving to the meaning of the
law, 377, note; claim their civil rights,
380, 381 ; their public charges against
Whitgift, 448, 449; contend for their
rights as Englishmen, 380, 381, 407,
453, 454 and note, 455 ; their " Suppli
cation to Parynment," 457-460; peti
tion Parliament for reformation in the
Church, 461 : petition the Convoca
tion, 482 ; their petitions to Whitgift,
and his answers, 483, 484 ; what they
sought, in 1584-6, in Parliament. 489
-491 ; their perceptions of civil liberty,
494-496; claim civil rights, iii. 18;
appeal to law, 631, 632 ; increase of
their numbers, 18, 19; their reputed
disagreements, 36, 37 ; their scruples
about receiving episcopal ordination,
46 ; views of popular election to the
office of pastor, 48-50; their plat
form, 152 - 154 ; appeal to Parliament,
157 ; objections to their platform, 158
- 163 ; their first effort to abolish epis
copacy, 172 ; their view of the preach
ing of the Word, 237, note 1 ; disliked
Martin Mar-prelate, 264, 281, 294, 303
- 307 ; how esteemed by the temporal
lords, 323, 324 ; resist the abuse of
power, 324, 325 ; their courage in op
posing the queen, 325, 326 ; their ob
jections to the national Church, 364,
note ; reject tho name of " Puritans,"
354, note ; the statement considered,
that they wore treated with great fa
vor, 363 - 365 ; their increase, 472 ;
less obtrusive, 580, 583 ; no diminu
tion of their numbers, 680-582, or
influence, 583 : attack the judicial as
sumptions of the High Commission,
582, nnd are successful, 583.
Purveyance, iii. 313 - 315.
R.
Rack, torture by the, i. 423 ; ii. 208,
note, 400 ; approved by Whitgift, iii. 21.
Rainolds, Dr. John, against the divine
right of bishops, iii. 340 - 344 ; his tes
timony for Barrow and Greenwood,
541.

Raleigh, Sir Walter, befriends John Udal,
iii. 435 and note.
" Real presence " of Christ in the sacra
mental supper, i. 19, note 2.
Reconciliation to the Romish Ohuroh,
what, i. 340, 341, note.
Recusants, their liabilities, i. 144, 239
and note; the first Catholic, 340; le
niency towards the latter, 341, 345,
309 ; ii. 78, note.
Reformation under Edward VI., its pol
icy of gradual progress, and intention
of further reformation, i. 25, 26, 63-65,
84, 85, 182; under Queen Elizabeth,
retrogressive, 182, 183; and why, 176,
177, 179, 186, 167, 191, 320 and note,
321 ; further reformation proceeded
upon by the Commons, 393-395; pe
titioned for, 401.
Religion of the state under Elizabeth,
how settled and by whom, i. 177 and
note, 191, 318-320.
Re-ordination, objections to, iii. 47.
Rich, Lord, convented, ii. 239; commit
ted, 247.
Ridolpho, a Florentine, a secret agent of
the Pope in England, i. 344 and note;
arranges for an invasion, 420; and for
the murder of Queen Elizabeth, 421.
Rippon, Roger, iii. 491, 493 ; dies in
prison, 497.
Robsart, Amy, married to Robert Dud
ley, i. 245, note; the history of her
murder, 245, note 2.

Sabbath, the traffic on that day, i. 171,
172; general desecration of, 369; at
the opening of tho English Reforma
tion, iii. 584 ; its profanation under
Elizabeth, 687-590; bill in Parlia
ment for its better observance passed,
but rejected by the queen, 590, 691;
its observance generally revived, 593-
695; bills concerning it in Elizabeth's
last Parliament, 638.
Sacramental supper, consecration of its
elements, i. 531, 632 ; bread, wafer
form of, 521; ii. 164 and note. .
Sacraments, their mysterious efficacy,
iii. 237, note 1.
Sampson, Thomas, refuses to conform, i.
222 ; placed in custody and deprived,
234 ; refuses the bishopric of Norwich.

INDEX.

673

234, note; Master of the Hospital at
Leicester and Lecturer in Whittingham
Collogo, ib. ; suffered to preach with
out tho habits, 240 ; his opinion of
Elizabeth's piety, 491, noto; his letter
to Grindal, ii. 331; his protests to Bur
leigh ngninst tho deformity of church
government, 455, 450; his supplication
to Parliament, 457 - 400.
Sandys made Bishop of London, i. 368;
his appeal to Burleigh, 454,456; made
Archbishop of York, ii. 91 ; a. strict
supporter of conformity, 09; his attack
upon Whittingham, 99-113; his an
swers to the petitions of the Puritans
in Parliament, 470, 473, note, 474 ;
victimized, or " trepanned," 474, noto.
Satirical pamphlets, ii. 193, note.
Savago, John, purposes the assassination
of Elizabeth, iii. 75-77; his trial, 109;
his execution, 119.
" Semper Eadem," Elizabeth's motto, i.
193.
Separate rrotestant Churches allowed
under Edward VI., 1. 48, 49, note; un
der Elizabeth, 334, note.
Separation foreshadowed, i. 200, 303;
Puritans abhor it, 202, 450, note, 522,
note, 523; 11. 265 and note, 276, note,
313; lieza's opinion of, 1. 367; its be
ginning, 304, 305; it is suspended, 367;
reasons for, 313; ii. 307-311; why
disliked by non-conformists, i. 332 ; of
Catholics, its beginning, 340 ; becomes
general, 36C.
Separatists, their first meetings, i. 305,
300 ; arrested, 300 and noto ; their
examination nnd imprisonment, 307-
816 ; release, 317 nnd noto; their con
troversy with conforming Puritans,
833; ii. 312-310; their first church
organizations, 298 nnd noto; their rea
sons for separation, 307 - 311 ; tho first
of thcin executed, 318.
Shonvinc, n priost, his execution, ii. 210 -
218.
Shrows, universal, iii. 175, note.
Simony, i. 377, 475.
" Sir," a priestly nnd academical title,
ii. 25S, note.
"' Six Articles," Statute of, i. 19-21; re
pented, 23.
Eomervillo, John, purposes tho murder
of the queen, ii- 490.
Speaker of tho Uouso of Commons, form
VOL. ill. 85

of his olection, i. 130, 131 ; form of
ratifying his election, 132; his usual
petitions nnd the answers to them, 132,
133, 283.
Speech, freedom of, attempt in the Honse
of Commons to suppress it, iii. 038.
Spies upon public worship, i. 308 ; ii.
248; upon Papists, 601.
Stage players, i. 153, 154.
Star-Chamber Court, i. 203, note.
St. Edmond's Bury, ii. 281.
Story, Dr. John, i. 1 47 ; his seizure and
execution, 424.
Stow, John, his study searched, i. 350 -
853 ; his personal history, 354, note.
Strickland, his speech for reformation in
the Church, i. 377 ; introduces a bill
for reforming tho Book of Common
Prayer and church ceremonies, 379
debato upon it, 379 - 381 ; forbidden to
resume his scat, 382 ; commotion in
tho Commons on his account, soothed,
his reappearance, 382-385, 388; as
serts that conscience should bo left
free, 3S9.
Stubbcs, John, his tract against tho
queen's marriago with the Duke of
Anjou, ii. 143; his punishment, 150-
163; received into tho coiifidouco of
Lord Burleigh, 150.
Subscription, required to promiso uni
formity, 1. 227 ; by law required only
to articles of faith and tho doctrine of
the sacraments, 39S; illegal, required
by the bishops, 407, 027, 533, 540;
under Archbishop Griml.il, ii. 72; of
tho Puritans, 270 ; required to another
Book of Common Prayer than that es
tablished bylaw, 350; illegal, Parlia
ment petitioned against, 401 ; to Whit
gift's articles, urged by the bishops,
350-369, but contrary to tho statute,
454 and noto.
Succession of the crown, tho Commons
address the queen upon it, nnd her an
swer, i. 279 ; the Duke of Norfolk nd-
drcsses her upon it, nnd her nnswer,
282 ; the subject ngniu ngitatod in tho
Commons, 285, 2S0 ; urged upon tho
queen by a committee from tho Lords,
288, and by n deputation from Lords
nnd Commons, 289 ; her answer, ib. ;
tho matter again agitated in tho Com
mons, 290 ; tho queen inhibits its fur
ther discussion, ib. ; tho indignation of

674

INDEX.

tho Commons, 291, 297 ; nnotncr in-
hibitionof thesubject, 292 ; the queen's
probable opinion that the right of, was
in Mary of Scotland, 296.
Suffragan bishops, i. 199, note.
Superstitions, Romish, i. 24, note 1, 44.
Supremacy, Act of, i. 141 ; oath of, 142,
note ; the queen's exposition of the
oath, 149, 195; the exposition accept
ed by all Protestant clergy, 196,205;
ii. 351 ; tho oath taken by Popish
priests, i. 218; ecclesiastical suprcm-
ney of the crown, 32, note, 150-152,
400, 469; objected to by the Queen's
first bishops, ii. 09-62; its character
istics, 09, 70.
Sussex, Thomas Eadcliffe, Earl of, i.
243; his complaint of indignity put
upon him during tho northern rebel
lion, 301, note; his hatred of Leicester,
ii. 139, note; his death and character,
323-32G; his tribute of respect for

T.
" Taffety," what, i. 30, note.
Temple, the, in London, iii. 44.
Thackcr, Elias, executed, ii. 317, 318.
"Theologicuin" wine, i. 104, note.
" Thirty-nine Articles," i. 206, note;
how ratified by Parliament, 398.
" Thirty-two," Act of, i. 378 and note.
Throckmorton, Sir Nicholas, his death,
ii. 47, note 3; Francis, arrested and
executed, 502-508.
Tichbourne, Chidiock, iii. 94, 109, 118,
119.
Tradition, the guide for church govern
ment, i. 475.
Travers, Walter, ii. 273; iii. 44-71.
Treason, punishment for, ii. 212, 213,
and notes; 215, note 4; 219, note.
Tregian, Francis, his sufferings under a
praemunire, ii. 76-90.
Trent, Council of, i. 337, note.
Trifles, the vestments and ceremonie3 of
the Church, not, i. 40-45, 312, 313,
818, 320-323 and note, 474; so con
sidered by the queen, 547-549.
"Troubles at Frankfort," i. 65, note 3;
misrepresentations of, 112, note 2.
Trumpington, vicar of, his exposition of
Scripture, i. 31, note.
Tyler,  , ii. 262.

U.
Udal, John, iii. 253 ; indicted and Mod,
414-426; his argument for tho stay
ing of his scntcuco and for his re
lease, 430-432; sentenced to death,
433; his submissions, 428, 434-436,
440; sufferings and death in prison,
439; the story about his pardon, 437,
440, note; probably did not write
" The Demonstration," 441.
Uniformity, not pressed under Edward
VI., i. 78, 84, 315 and note; Act of,
a failure, 218, 219; movement to en
force, 224-241; required by procla
mation, 236; new canons for enforcing,
405, 406 ; proclamation to enforce, 485 ;
want of, attributed to the Devil by
Archbishop Parker, ii.. 164.
Unity, ecclesiastical, i. 331; of tho Prot
estant Church, attempted by Calvin
and others, 331 and note; the influenco
of this attempt upon the Roman pon
tiff, 336; considered sacred, 332, ji. 265;
iii. 153; common idea of, i. 491.

Valeran Polan, i. 62, 67.
Vestments of the clergy, books pub
lished against, i. 262; Bullingcr's let
ter about, 304; reason for requiring
them, 314. See "Apparel."
Virginia Company, ii. 42, note.
Vulgate version of the Scriptures, his
tory of, iii. 348 and note.
Vv*.
Waldegrave, Robert, the Puritan printer,
iii. 247-250, 204, 205.
Wnlsingham, Sir Francis, his espionage,
ii. 44, note, 202; iii. 73; his behavior
in reference to the Queen of Scots,
107, 108.
Wandsworth, town of, i. 413; presby
tery organized at, 438 ; ii. 204.
Wentworth, Paul, demands whether tho
royal inhibition is not against tho
privileges of the Commons, i. 290;
ids motion for a fast by the Commons,
ii. 168 and note.
Wentworth, Peter, his rejoinder to Sir
Humphrey Gilbert, i, 3S7, 388; asserts
the right of private judgment in mat-

INDEX.

675

ters of religion, 394; his appeal for
freedom of speech, ii. 21-32; arrested
and committed to the Tower, 33-40;
enforces the rending of a bill which
the queen would have suppressed, iii.
168; his speech touching the liberties
of tho Commons, 164-167; sent to
the Tower, 160; proposes in the Com
mons tho entailing of the succession
of the crown, 651 ; sent to the Tower,
552.
"Whip with six strings," statute so
called, i. 21.
Whitehead, David, chosen pastor of the
Church at Frankfort, i. 112 ; his in
terview with Coverdale, Knollys, and
Dudley, 171-197; his previous his
tory, 174, 175, 178, note ; refuses the
Archbishopric of Canterbury, 175, 178,
noto ; suspended, 238 ; remonstrates
against enforcing tho habits, 250-263;
his retort upon the queen about cel
ibacy-, 258.
Whitgift, John, disciplines and upbraids
Thomas Cartwright, i. 412; his con
troversy with Cartwright, 448-451;
oonsocrated Bishop of Worcester, ii.
63; and Archbishop of Canterbury,
848; his "Throo Articles," 349-353;
erect3 a new, standard of conformity,
870; his proceedings disliked by tho
Council, 409, nnd liked by tho Pa
pists, 410; his letters to Hatton, 409
and note, 431, 432; his controversy
with Robert Ileal. 411-417; his iguo-
ranco of tho Prayer Book as estab
lished by law, 413 ; his articles of in
quisition denounced by Burleigh, 421,
422; his defenco of them, 423, 424,
428, 429, nnd of himself, 429-431,
437; his proceedings offensive to court
iers, statesmen, and gentry, 439 - 443,
nnd against the wholo current of pub
lic opinion, 448; below the level of
his age, 440; public charges against
him, 448, 449; his "Throo Articles"
contrary to statute, 454 and noto;
protests against innovations in the

Church, 466; appeals to the queen
against ecclesiastical proceedings in
tho Commons, 480; his remarkable
answers to a petition of the Puritans,
483, 484; his policy and temper, iii.
20 ; his treatment of Robert Beal, 21 ;
approved of torture, ii. ; efforts against
the press, 22 - 25 ; his railing language,
84 ; his duplicity, 276, noto ; his ef
forts for the pardon of Mar-prelate's
accomplices, 297 ; consents to the ex
ecution of John Udal, 433, note 4,
437 and note 7, 438 and note 1 ; his
purpose to prosecute Barrow and
Greenwood to death, 507, 514 ; tho
first to sign the death-warrant of Pen
ry, 630 ; justifies hanging the " ser
vants of God," 542 ; his agency in the
conviction and execution of Barrow
and Greenwood, 544, 545 ; opposes the
sanctification of the Sabbath, 595.
Whittingham, William, his arrival at
Frankfort, i. 67, 58 ; his escape from
England, 68, 09; Dean of Durham
nnd a conforming Puritnn, 221 ; his
letter to Leicester agniust the robes
of Antichrist, 221 ; suspended, sub
scribes, and is restored, 238 ; ordained
pastor ofthe English Church at Gcno-
va, chaplain to tho Earl of Warwick,
Dean of Durham, nominated as Sec
retary of State, ii. 98; his presbyto-
rian ordination questioned, but sus
tained, 99 - 113 ; his death, 100.
Wigginton, Giles, iii. 254-256, 258-
262.
Wight, Daniel, iii. 870.
Wilcox, Thomas, i. 414-418; impris
oned, 441; conference with the Arch
bishop's chaplain, 441 - 444 ; answer
to Whitgift, 449, note; threatened with.
banishment, 461.
Wood, Lover, imprisoned, ii. 438, noto.
Wolsey, Cardinal, i. 1, 17.
Worship, public, neglected, 1. 464; ill.
038.
Wotton, Nicholas, refuses the Archbish
opric of Canterbury, i. 17S, note.

THE END.

Canibrldgo i Elcctrotypcd and Printed by Welch, Bipilow, & Co.

>8601

wore.